§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are his latest estimates of(a) the cost to a local authority of housing a homeless family for a year in a property which has been leased from a private owner, and (b) the average annual rent charged to homeless families for the occupation of a property which a local authority has leased from a private owner, (i) in London and (ii) in the rest of England.
§ Sir George YoungThe information is not available centrally and my Department has no estimates.
§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the number of homeless people in the Greater London area on 31 March.
§ Mr. BaldryLocal authorities in England report the number of households for whom they accept responsibility to secure permanent accommodation under the homelessness provisions of the Housing Act 1985 in their quarterly P1 return.
The latest estimate for London appears in table 1 of "Households found accommodation under the homelessness provisions of the 1985 Housing Act 1985: England. Statistics for the fourth quarter 1992", a copy of which is in the Library.