§ 26. Mr. MartlewTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many new council houses will be completed in the United Kingdom in the financial year 1991–92.
§ Mr. YeoBased on reported activity to November 1991, English local authorities are expected to complete 7,000 to 8,000 dwellings in 1991–92.
We do not plan a specific level of council house building. It is for local authorities to propose how best to use the resources made available under their housing investment programme allocations. Housing associations are now the main providers of new subsidised rented housing, and public expenditure provision for the Housing Corporation is planned to increase from £1.1 billion last year to over £2 billion by 1993–94, when output of housing by associations will rise to over 50,000.
For information about other parts of the United Kingdom, I refer the hon. Member to the Secretaries of State concerned.