§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the number of local authority properties which are regarded as unfit for human habitation. [85517]
§ Mr. RaynsfordLocal authorities are asked to provide information on all dwellings in their area which are unfit (i.e. because they fail to meet the fitness criteria in Section 83 of Schedule 9 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989) in their annual Housing Investment Programme returns. Separate figures are requested for local authority, registered social landlord, other public sector and private sector dwellings. The figures provided are local authorities' own estimates and are not necessarily compiled on a consistent basis.
The latest available figures are for 1 April 1998 and are given in the 1998 "HIP OI All Items Print", a copy of which is in the Library. The print includes county totals where estimates have been provided by all the authorities in the county.