Housing Action Trusts (Hansard, 8 June 1989)

§ Ms. Harman
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how and when he intends to conduct a ballot of the tenants of the Gloucester grove and North Peckham estates in Southwark in relation to a housing action trust;
(2) whether the housing action trust ballot will be on the basis of one vote per tenancy;
(3) who will be entitled to cast the vote in a housing action trust ballot when the tenancy is in joint names.

§ Mr. Trippier
I refer the hon. Member to the replies that I gave to her on 30 January(Official Report, columns 20 and 30) and to the hon. Member for Norwood on 24 May (Official Report, column 592).

§ Ms. Harman
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many tenants in Southwark, living on the Gloucester grove and North Peckham estates proposed for the setting up of housing action trusts, were interviewed by the consultants Peat Marwick McLintock in preparing their report on the suitability of these estates for housing action trusts.

§ Mr. Trippier
The consultants' report acknowledges that they were unable to interview more than a small proportion of tenants living on the North Peckham and Gloucester grove estates. Nevertheless, they held in-depth interviews with 31 tenants and a similar number of people closely connected with the estates, and they used a variety of published sources to produce a good report of housing conditions in the area, with recommendations for improvements. Tenants and tenants associations on both estates are discussing the reports with the consultants as part of the current consultation exercise.
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§ Ms. Harman
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give an estimate of the amount of Government support necessary for improvements to the Gloucester grove and North Peckham estates along the lines of those recommended by the consultants in their report on the suitability of these estates for housing action trusts.

§ Mr. Trippier
The consultants produced an illustrative scheme for costing purposes which estimated the costs of improving the Southwark housing action trust area at around £112 million. We have allocated substantial resources to the housing action trust programme and are committed to pay for the improvements to be carried out by housing action trusts. The amount of resources for any particular trust will depend on the programme of work, to be decided in consultation with residents.

§ Ms. Harman
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the future of existing and planned estate action schemes for the Gloucester grove and North Peckham estates in Southwark.

§ Mr. Trippier
Southwark council has received previous estate action allocations amounting to some £3.75 million for the Gloucester grove and North Peckham estates. The council bid unsuccessfully for Estate Action support towards housing and environmental improvements there in 1989–90, but their request for Estate Action support for the conversion of garages into local estate offices is being considered by the Department.
If Southwark submits Estate Action bids for the Gloucester grove and North Peckham estates in future years, their applications, like all Estate Action bids, will be assessed on their merits.

§ Ms. Harman
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimates he has received of the cost of rehabilitation of Gloucester grove and North Peckham estates from his consultants on housing action trusts.

§ Mr. Trippier
The consultants produced an illustrative scheme for costing purposes which estimated the costs of improving the Southwark Housing Action Trust area at around £112 million—£68 million for North Peckham and £44 million for Gloucester grove. Local residents are now being consulted about the proposals for their estates.

§ Ms. Harman
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the(a) total cost of monies paid to consultants and (b) the cost to his Department in relation to proposed housing action trusts for the Gloucester grove and North Peckham estates in Southwark.

§ Mr. Trippier
We expect that the costs in relation to the proposed Southwark housing action trust will amount to around £192,000, including VAT, when all bills have been paid. This figure covers consultants' fees and other costs involved in producing reports and leaflets about the proposals, but excludes consultants' fees under the current consultation exercise. The cost of this contract will remain commercially confidential until it has been completed.

§ Ms. Harman
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends to implement the consultants' conclusion that more money needs to be invested in the areas designated for housing action trusts in Southwark.
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§ Mr. Trippier
We have accepted our consultants advice that substantial resources should be allocated to a housing action trust in Southwark and have made public expenditure provision accordingly.