HC Deb 03 July 1990 vol 175 cc502-3W
Mr. Cousins

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing the number of housing starts and completions in the Northern region in each quarter of 1988 and 1989 and the first quarter of the current year.

Mr. Michael Spicer

Latest available figures for the Northern region show 2,027 dwelling starts reported in the fourth quarter 1989, and 2,428 in the first quarter of 1990. Corresponding figures for dwellings completed were 2,837 and 1,996, respectively. The latest quarterly figures for 1988 up to the third quarter of 1989 appear in table 1.3 of "Housing and Construction Statistics, Part 1, No. 40", which is in the Library.

Mr. Cousins

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing the number of housing starts and completions in each standard region in 1988 and 1989, together with the percentage change between 1988 and 1989.

Mr. Michael Spicer

The latest available figures for all housebuilding, private and public, are as follows:

Mr. Trippier

HCFC 22 is an important transitional substance to replace CFC 12. Its global warming potential (GWP) is about a fifth of CFC 12. Other new chemicals are being developed which are also greenhouse gases but with a fraction of the GWP of the CFCs they are to replace.

Ms. Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his policy in respect of the use of HFC 134A as an alternative to chlorofluorocarbons.

Mr. Trippier

HFC 134A is an environmentally acceptable alternative to CFC12—it has no ozone depletion potential and its global warming potential is less than a sixth that of CFC12. The Government expect industry to use substitutes in a way which ensures minimum emission to atmosphere.

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