§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much is to be spent on improvements to the Woolwich Common estate; how much is Government funded; when the homes were built; and what the spending is, averaged across the number of dwellings and the number of residents.
§ Mr. YeoI recently approved, under the 1991–92 estate action programme, a scheme on the Woolwich Common estate totalling £9.910 million. Estate action resources will contribute £5.527 million or 56 per cent. of the total scheme costs and will help to improve the living conditions in 688 of the 1,350 dwellings on the estate. The best estimate that we have of the number of residents affected is 2,000. Woolwich Common was built in four phases between 1968 and 1981. Under the proposed scheme a 93-dwelling Bison tower block, built under phase I, will benefit from improved heating, insulation and communal facilities. The security problems of 488 low-rise flats, which were among the last buildings to be constructed on the site, will also be addressed. The scheme also involves reroofing and rewiring these dwellings and others. The average costs per unit for all dwellings included in the scheme is £14,500.
424WThe scheme will be completed over four years and is the second phase of a large-scale programme of works on the estate which has already attracted £3.5 million in estate action funding.