§ Ms BuckTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is his estimate of the number of households in local authority properties who are under-occupying because their household size and structure does not justify the number of bed-spaces provided. [52127]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe table shows estimates from the Survey of English Housing of the number of local authority households in England in which the number of bedrooms available exceeds the bedroom standard (i.e. the requirement under a longstanding standard for bedrooms, implied by the composition of the household). In certain cases a household may need a spare706W bedroom, for caring or another purpose, and any assessment of whether a property is under-occupied should take such factors into account.
Local authority households in England, 1996–97: Difference from bedroom standard Thousands of household Percentage At or below bedroom standard 1,901 55 One bedroom more than the Standard 1,114 32 Two or more bedrooms more than the standard 466 13 All households with more bedrooms than the standard 1,580 45 All households 3,481 100 Notes:
Like all estimates from sample surveys, these figures are subject to sampling variability
§ Ms BuckTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many local housing authorities operate incentive schemes to encourage under-occupying tenants to move to smaller properties; and how many people have moved in each of the last three years via such schemes. [52126]
§ Mr. RaynsfordInformation about local authorities' management policies, including under-occupation strategies, was formally collected for the first time on the 1996 Housing Investment Programme questionnaire. At that time, of 357 local housing authorities, more than 230—almost two thirds—indicated that they offered direct incentives to their under-occupying tenants to encourage moves into smaller social rented accommodation.
Between 110,000 and 114,000 council tenants have transferred to other properties owned by their local authorities in each of the last three years; around one quarter (26–27,000) have moved into homes with fewer bedrooms, although it is not known how many of these were as a result of incentives offered by the authority.