§ Mr. WallaceTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland grants were made for croft houses by year over the past 10 years; what was the expenditure in total; and what was the average grant on individual croft houses.
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§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe information is set out in the table:
Number of grants made1 Expenditure2 New house Improved house Total New house £ Improved house £ Total £ 1979 148 47 195 4590,000 525,000 615,000 1980 192 63 255 698,000 35,000 733,000 1981 147 54 201 558,000 28,000 586,000 1982 133 43 176 522,000 24,000 546,000 1983 77 36 113 314,000 20,000 334,000 1984 132 67 199 665,000 58,000 723,000 1985 143 66 209 836,000 82,000 918,000 1986 113 53 166 709,000 45,000 754,000 1987 119 59 178 882,000 81,000 963,000 1988 95 113 208 — — 33,316,000 1 Number of grants made for new houses or improvements completed. 2 Actual expenditure in year. 3 No split available for grant only. Total includes loans for houses. 4 The maximum grant available for new houses was £4,000 from 1979, £6,500 from 1982 and £8,700 from 1986 5 The maximum grant available for house improvements was £750 from 1979 and £1,500 from 1986. In general new house construction attracted the maximum grant. The average grant for house improvement was £700.