§ Mrs. BrintonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what studies he has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into ways in which (i) existing housing stock and (ii) new housing could meet changing household needs better over individual lifespans. [13011]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe Department has commissioned three relevant studies:
- (i) a study has recently been completed on the conversion of local authority housing to meet the changing needs of tenants;
- (ii) research has just been commissioned on conversation, demolition and redevelopment, which will examine the potential of converting the existing housing stock of redeveloping sites to meet the increased demand for housing;
- (iii) a feasibility study to develop an economic model of the demand and need for social housing has also just been completed;
- (iv) a study has recently been completed into the cost implications of extending the building regulations to make new dwellings more accessible to disabled and elderly people.
Since (ii) has just started and (i) and (iii) have recently been completed, the Department has not yet evaluated the outputs from these studies. Evaluation of study (iv) has been taken into account in reaching conclusions on extension of the building regulations, which will be announced shortly.