§ Mr. FlightTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he plans to revise upwards from 4.4 million the number of new homes needed by 2016; and if he will make a statement. [25727]
§ Mr. RaynsfordMy Department is planning to compile revised, 1996-based, household projections around the end of this year. Until then, the 1992-based household projections, which indicated a 4.4 million increase in the number of households in England in the 25 year period from 1991 to 2016, remain the latest official estimates of future household formation. The household projections are not an estimate of the number of additional houses which have to be built. Rather, they represent just one of the factors to be taken into account by local planning authorities when arriving at figures for housing provision to be included in regional guidance and development plans.