§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the latest figures of households accepted as homeless by local authorities following mortgage repossessions for England and Wales.
§ Mr. BaldryLocal authorities report quarterly on the number of households accepted under the homelessness14W provisions of the Housing Act 1985, distinguishing where the main reason for loss of the last settled home is mortgage arrears, but they do not separately identify those which were subject to repossession.
The latest estimate is 3,700 such households in England, in the quarter ending December 1991.
For information about Wales I would refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his latest estimate of the comparative public sector revenue costs of housing homeless families in(a) Greater London and (b) in English non-metropolitan areas by (i) providing them with newly built council dwellings, (ii) providing them with council dwellings, newly acquired from the private sector and improved for letting and (iii) providing them with bed-and-breakfast accommodation; and if he will publish these figures on a comparable basis with those published in his replies to the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith) on 16 January 1987, Official Report, columns 331–32 and on 4 March 1987, Official Report, column 637.
§ Mr. BaldryI have looked carefully at the basis on which such an answer can be given and have concluded that the information is not available in a form which enables a valid comparison to be made.