§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the effects of changes in housing association grant on housing association rent levels.
§ Sir George Young[holding answer 28 March 1994]: The relationship between the Government's decisions on changes in housing association grant rates and the rent levels determined by housing associations for their new properties is not direct. The implications for rents of a change in the grant rate will depend on the costs of construction and borrowing, as well as on an association's management and other costs.
Reductions in average grant rates from 80 per cent in 1990–91 to a ceiling of 62 per cent. for 1994–95 have reflected a considerable reduction in procurement costs across the period. Housing associations have also been able to reduce the rents they would otherwise need to charge on new properties by their ability to pool rents across their stock and to make efficiency savings.