§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many substandard houses there were in England in each year between 1980 and 2000. [140541]
§ Mr. MullinThe term substandard housing is a non-technical term which is open to a number of different interpretations. Therefore there is no national data source that collects data using the substandard definition.
In England, the Fitness Standard (as amended by section 604 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989) operates, which deems whether a dwelling is fit for human habitation. The most rigorous national data source on whether dwellings in England meet the Fitness Standard is the English House Condition Survey (EHCS). The survey is currently carried out every five years; the most recent survey was carried out in 1996 and the next is scheduled for 2001. The survey shows that in 1996 around 1,522,000 dwellings (including occupied and unoccupied) were unfit, representing 7.5 per cent. of the stock. This compares to 1,498,000 dwellings (7.6 per cent.) of the stock in 1991. It is not appropriate to make simple comparisons with earlier surveys because of changes to the Fitness Standard through section 604.