§ Ms. AbbottTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will bring forward proposals for a housing programme that is affordable for low-income tenants; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BaldryLocal authorities already own and manage more than 3.8 million dwellings. The Government's focus for the provision of new affordable housing is housing associations. The Government plan to allocate around £6 billion to the Housing Corporation over the three years from 1992–93. We have recently announced that an extra £600 million will be spent this year to enable housing associations to purchase new, empty and repossessed properties for rent and to allow housing association tenants to buy homes in the private sector. Over the three years from 1992–93 housing associations will be able to provide considerably more than the 153,000 new social homes forecast in the Government's election manifesto.
We have increased funds for the Housing Corporation from £936 million in 1989–90 to £2.3 billion this year. In total, £7.5 billion is being made available by the Government to support the corporation's capital expenditure over the four years from 1992–93. The Government hope to be able to increase the private finance levered in by these public funds in order to attract a further £3 billion from the private sector over the period to support the provision of new social housing.
Ministers have also encouraged local authorities to work with others to assist the provision of social housing in their areas, for example through the use of their planning powers and other enabling functions.