§ 34. Mr. David ShawTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the quality of the management of council housing; and what information he has on the latest position with regard to(a) rent arrears, (b) empty properties and (c) council house sales.
§ Mr. YeoIn 1989 the Department published a report by the centre for housing research, Glasgow university, entitled "The Nature and Effectiveness of Housing Management in England", which evaluated the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of local authorities and housing associations as landlords.
A follow-up study on the effectiveness of housing management under the new financial regimes for local authorities and housing associations is currently being carried out by the centre for housing studies, York university, and is due to report in 1992.
The latest available information on council tenants' arrears relates to the position at the end of March 1990. Estimated total rent arrears for all English local authorities at that date were £360 million.
The latest available information on empty council dwellings in England relates to 1 April 1990. At that date some 99,400 were vacant.
Some 1.3 million English local authority or new town properties have been sold into owner-occupation between April 1979 and March 1991. In addition 16 local authorities have transferred their remaining stock to housing associations or to private companies.