§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of housing stock in England and Wales is provided by housing associations.
§ Mr. Robert B. JonesThe proportion of the overall housing stock that was provided by housing associations at the end of December 1993 is estimated as 3.8 per cent. in England and 2.9 per cent. in Wales.
§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has regarding the availability of specialised housing for the elderly; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Robert B. JonesResearch into the housing needs of elderly people has revealed that there is approximately 16 per cent. more subsidised housing provision for elderly people in England than was previously thought to exist, and that there is currently over-provision of ordinary sheltered housing but under-provision of very sheltered housing. Details are in the table following:
Type of housing provider Dwellings Local authorities 465,920 Housing Associations 148,586 Abbeyfield societies 6,230 Almshouses 20,i58 Total 641,494 I hope to publish the results of the research later this year.
§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of dwellings were owner-occupied in each year since 1979; what percentage of owner-occupation resulted from the right-to-buy scheme; and what percentage of properties sold under the right to buy is represented by newly constructed local authority accommodation over the same period.
977W
§ Mr. Robert B. JonesThe available information is given in the table. Information on newly constructed local authority accommodation sold under right-to-buy is not available centrally.
End of Year Percentage of dwellings which were owner occupied Percentage of owner occupied dwellings purchased under right-to-buy scheme 1979 56.6 — 1980 57.7 — 1981 58.2 0.6 1982 59.5 2.2 1983 60.5 3.3 1984 61.3 3.9 1985 62.2 4.5 1986 63.2 5.1 1987 64.3 5.6 1988 65.6 6.5 1989 66.6 7.5 1990 67.1 8.1 1991 67.2 8.4 1992 67.2 8.7 1993 67.3 8.9
§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many households were accepted as homeless in rural areas for each year since 1979 and for the current year; and how many dwellings were built in such areas in those years by(a) local authorities and (b) housing associations.
§ Mr. Robert B. JonesThe Department collects information about homelessness and about house building for each local authority area. This information does not distinguish between rural and urban areas.
§ Mr. RaynsfordTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 19 October,Official Report, column 265, how many tenants of (a) local authorities, (b) housing associations and (c) private landlords, occupying (i) one, (ii) two and (iii) three or more bedrooms more than required by members of their household are over retirement age.
§ Mr. Robert B. Jones[holding answer 29 October 1994]: The latest available estimates for England are as follows:
Tenants over retirement age and having more bedrooms than the bedroom standard 1993–94 England Tenure Number of bedrooms more than bedroom standard One thousands Two thousands Three or more thousands Council tenants 530 280 10 Housing associations tenants 60 20 — Private tenants 160 120 10 All tenants 750 420 20 Note:
"—" indicates less than 5,000.
These figures are from the 1993–94 Survey of English Housing and are subject to sampling error.