HL Deb 29 November 1988 vol 502 cc292-3WA
Lord Coleraine

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When the results of the 1986 English House Condition Survey will be published.

The Earl of Caithness

The report of the 1986 English House Condition Survey was published yesterday. Copies of the report have been placed in the Library and copies are being sent to all housing authorities in England.

The results of the survey are encouraging. They show that, overall, the condition of the stock has improved since the last survey in 1981. Less than 3 per cent. of the stock lacks basic amenities compared with 5 per cent. in 1981. The proportion of the stock which is classified unfit has been reduced from 6.3 per cent. to 5.6 per cent. The proportion in serious disrepair has remained broadly the same at about 6 per cent.

There has also been an improvement in the provision of other facilities. Homes are better heated and insulated than they were in 1981. Nearly 75 per cent. of dwellings have central heating, compared with only 57 per cent. in 1981, and 70 per cent. of the stock has loft insulation compared with 61 per cent. in 1981.

This reflects substantial private sector investment in the stock between 1981 and 1986. The value of work carried out by owner occupiers was £12.1 billion in 1986 alone, and that undertaken by private landlords and their tenants was £1.1 billion. This was a real increase of over 30 per cent. on the figure for 1981.

Public sector spending on renovation has also increased substantially in this period. Spending on improvement grants for private owners more than doubled in real terms between 1981 and 1986, and spending on the renovation of the local authority stock increased by almost 60 per cent. in real terms over the same period.

We recognise that more needs to be done to tackle particular problems of property in poor condition identified in the report.

The proposed new system of grants for private owners will ensure that help goes to those whose property is in poor condition and who could not afford to carry out the necessary works without our assistance. Provision for next year is 13 per cent. higher than the outturn this year and will include extra money for renewal schemes in the worst housing areas.

Deregulation of the private rented sector should encourage landlords to invest in the maintenance and revovation of the properties they own. Local authorities' powers have been strengthened so that they can take action, on behalf of tenants, to see that essential repairs are carried out.

More money will be made available for the renovation of the local authority stock. Resources for the Estate Action programme will be raised to £190 million next year and a similar sum will be made available over the next three years to housing action trusts to tackle some of the worst local authority estates.

We are confident that these steps will lead to further substantial improvements in the condition of the housing stock.