HC Deb 13 February 1990 vol 167 c183W
Mr. Meacher

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many council houses for rent have been built each year since 1970; and how many are planned to be built in each of the next five years.

Mr. Michael Spicer

[holding answer 8 February 1990]: Numbers of house-building completions for rent by local authorities and new towns are as follows:

Year Number
1970 127,700
1971 110,900
1972 89,400
1973 75,700
1974 95,600
1975 113,800
1976 116,200
1977 114,000
1978 92,100
1979 73,300
1980 73,500
1981 54,200
1982 30,800
1983 28,700
1984 28,400
1985 22,700
1986 18,900
1987 15,700
1988 15,300
11989 12,600
1 Provisional.

The Government do not expect local authorities to add significantly to their stock of houses for rent. Our policy is that housing associations should become the major providers of new subsidised rented housing and public expenditure plans reflect this.

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