Homelessness (Hansard, 19 October 1992)

§ Mr. Keith Hill
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many households were accepted as homeless in each standard economic region, including Greater London, in each year since 1979 to the latest date available.

§ Mr. Baldry
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Angus, East (Mr. Welsh) on 17 June,Official Report, column 569.

§ Mr. Bowis
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will consider how best to help homeless persons who do not qualify for housing benefit because they are not in rented accommodation and cannot afford the deposit and advance rent to enable them to obtain rented accommodation; and if he will discuss with the Housing Corporation whether a starter loan or grant scheme could be devised under its auspices.

§ Mr. Baldry
Under the Government's rough sleepers initiative, my Department is funding the Notting Hill housing trust to operate a rent deposit fund. Our grant enables NHHT to provide homeless people with the deposits they need to gain access to accommodation in the private rented sector.
This is a 15-month pilot project which is due to finish at the end of June 1993. We will then evaluate the results.

§ Mrs. Dunwoody
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many homeless people were recorded in(a)1990 and(b)1979 by English local authorities.

§ Mr. Baldry
The available information represents the numbers of homeless households for whom local authorities in England accepted responsibility for securing permanent accommodation under the homelessness provisions of the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 and the Housing Act 1985.
The information is as follows:

Year Households accepted as homeless

1979 55,530

1990 140,350

A new reporting system was introduced for non-metropolitan districts from the fourth quarter 1980 and for the other authorities from the third quarter of 1982. Figures are therefore not strictly comparable over the whole period.

§ Ms. Glenda Jackson
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how his Department plans to distinguish between genuine pregnancies and pregnancies conceived purely for purposes of gaining access to priority housing waiting lists.

§ Mr. Baldry
The homelessness legislation, which can confer priority need for accommodation on pregnant women, makes no such distinction.