§ 7. Mr. Bill MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received about the impact of the Budget on housing. [12506]
§ Mr. RaynsfordTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is his latest estimate of the total number of houses in multiple occupation in England and the total number of occupants of such accommodation using the categories contained in his Department's consultative paper on the licensing of multi-occupied houses; [13786]
(2) what is his latest estimate of the total number of (a) multi-occupied houses in England which are occupied by no more than three persons other than the responsible person and any other member of his household and (b) occupants of such accommodation; [13784]
(3) what is his latest estimate of the total number of multi-occupied houses in England which are owned by (a) housing associations, (b) universities and (c) other educational establishments; and what is the total number of occupants of such accommodation; [13783]
(4) what is his latest estimate of the total number of multi-occupied houses in England which consist entirely of self-contained flats where (a) at least one-third are let on leases of 21 years or more and are occupied by the lessees and their households and (b) the building work carried out when the flats were created had to comply with the relevant fire safety requirements in the Building 528W Regulations 1985 or Building Act 1984 regulations; and how many occupants of such accommodation there are currently. [13780]
(5) what is his latest estimate of the total number of (a) multi-occupied houses in England occupied by no more than four persons who form more than two households and (b) occupants of such accommodation. [13785]
§ Mr. CurryThe following information on numbers and occupants of houses in multiple occupation is available from my Department's survey of English local authorities in 1995. All figures relate to 1995.
Category of house Number of houses Number of occupants Traditional HMOs 110,642 631,467 Shared houses/flats 100,043 343,187 Households with lodgers 41,272 106,645 Purpose built HMOs 17,399 246,354 Hostels, guest and boarding houses 16,665 237,717 Converted self contained flats 352,285 1,533,597 Totals 638,306 3,098,967 According to this survey, a total of 47,171 HMOs were owned by housing associations.
The other information requested is not available.
§ Mr. RaynsfordTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table on a similar basis to the one included in the 1995 White Paper, "Housing: Our Future Homes", showing the total expenditure planned for 1997–98 and equivalent figures for 1978–79, breaking down expenditure to show(a) capital investment by local authorities, (b) capital investment by housing associations and other social landlords, (c) general and means-tested subsidies to home owners, (d) general and means tested subsidies to council tenants and (e) means-tested subsidies to private and housing association tenants. [13794]
§ Mr. CurryThe information is as follows:
£ billion in 1996–97 prices England 1979–80 1995–96 1997–98 Capital investment by local authorities 7.8 2.1 1.7 Capital investment by housing associations and other social landlords (public finance element, excluding capital investment by local authorities) 1.1 1.3 0.8 General and means-tested subsidies to home owners 3.8 3.9 n/a General and means-tested subsidies to council tenants 8.4 5.4 5.3 Means-tested subsidies to private and housing association tenants 0.5 5 5.6 Total 21.6 17.8 n/a n/a = not available. The table summarises help given towards housing costs through public spending and mortgage interest tax relief on the basis requested. Information for 1978–79 is not 529W kept in this format. Figures for 1997–98 are preliminary forecasts and such forecasts are not available for mortgage interest tax relief.
§ Mr. RaynsfordTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the local reference rent for(a) a self-contained one bedroomed flat and (b) a single room in shared accommodation for each local authority in England. [13782]
§ Mr. CurryMy Department produces the "Rent Officer Statistics" publication on a quarterly basis which includes averages of all the rent determinations made by rent officers for private lettings, by property type and size, in each registration area in England and Wales. The publication covering the first quarter of 1996 was published on 17 January 1997. Copies are available in the Library. The only statistics produced at the local authority level are those for the London boroughs.
§ Mr. RaynsfordTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the total number of homes for renting from local authorities, housing associations and other registered social landlords which will be started in(a) 1997–98, (b) 1998–99 and (c) 1999–2000. [13790]
§ Mr. CurryMy Department does not make forward estimates of the total number of homes for renting which will be started by local authorities, housing associations and other registered social landlords. The Housing Corporation's central estimate of the number of approvals which will be granted to registered social landlords under the rental component of its approved development programme over the three years 1997–98 to 1999–2000 is 48,100. The Corporation will be publishing details of its approved development programme shortly. Further homes for rent will also be started under other programmes including local authority housing association grant, the single regeneration budget and the rough sleepers initiative.
§ Mr. RaynsfordTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the total number of council homes sold(a) under the right to buy and (b) otherwise in each local authority area in England, in the periods (i) 1979 to 1983, (ii) 1984 to 1987, (iii) 1988 to 1992 and (iv) 1993 to 1996. [13792]
§ Mr. CurryTables showing the available information on total right-to-buy sales in each English local authority for each financial year from 1979–89 are in the Library. An update of the tables including data for sales in the period April to September 1996 will be placed in the Library in the next few weeks.
§ Mr. RaynsfordTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many homes have been acquired under the rents-to-mortgages scheme in(a) 1994, (b) 1995 and (c) 1996; and what is his estimate of the number likely to be acquired in 1997. [13787]
§ Mr. CurryLocal authorities in England have reported seven sales under the rent-to-mortgage scheme in 1994, nine in 1995 and seven in the first nine months of 1996. My Department has made no estimate of future sales.
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§ Mr. RaynsfordTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the total number of new lettings which will be generated for social housing purposes in(a) 1997–98, (b) 1998–99 and (c) 1999–2000. [13789]
§ Mr. CurryOn current plans, we estimate that the total number of new lettings for social housing purposes will be(a) 58,500, in 1997–98, (b) 47,200 in 1998–99 an (c) 42,000 in 1999–2000.