§ Mr. MeacherTo 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.