§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the standard spending assessment for council house investment for each of the last five years. [34191]
§ Mr. ClappisonThe annual capital guidelines allocated to local authorities as part of the housing investment programme for the last five years are:
- 1991–92: £1,342,500 million
- 1992–93: £1,289,896 million
- 1993–94: £1,377,612 million
- 1994–95: £1,037.982 million
- 1995–96: £994.229 million
§ Mr. CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment in what circumstances he will make it his policy to increase investment in council housing. [34192]
§ Mr. ClappisonEvery year, as part of the housing investment programme, local housing authorities receive their annual capital guideline allocations for capital expenditure on housing. They can also bid for resources from the housing partnership fund and the single regeneration budget challenge fund. In addition, local authorities fund capital expenditure on housing from usable capital receipts and revenue contributions to capital. It is up to local housing authorities to decide how much of their available resources should be invested in council housing according to local needs. Local authorities should also be considering transferring their stock to new social landlords since this is one of the best ways of bringing in private resources to renovate and improve social rented housing.