§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the(a) number and (b) percentage of dwellings in (i) the private rented sector, (ii) multiple occupation in (1) England and Wales, (2) Greater London and (3) the London borough of Enfield in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [144526]
§ Mr. MullinThe available estimates for private rented dwellings are given in the table. These are not available for the London borough of Enfield.
488W
England and Wales Greater London As at 1 April Dwellings (thousand) Percentage of total stock Dwellings (thousand) Percentage of total stock 1991 2,021 9.7 345 11.9 1992 2,068 9.8 362 12.3 1993 2,136 10.1 389 13.2 1994 2,184 10.2 411 13.9 1995 2,244 10.4 430 14.4 1996 2,326 10.7 451 15.0
England and Wales Greater London As at 1 April Dwellings (thousand) Percentage of total stock Dwellings (thousand) Percentage of total stock 1997 2,386 10.9 465 15.4 1998 2,414 11.0 467 15.4 1999 2,510 11.3 470 15.4 2000 2,527 11.3 472 15.4 Estimates of the number of houses in multiple occupation are available only for England, as follows:
Dwellings1 (thousand) Percentage of total stock 1991 1,154 5.9 1996 880 4.3 1 Includes traditional Houses in Multiple Occupation (bedsits), purpose-built HMOs and converted flats. Source:
English House Condition Surveys 1991 and 1996
§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the impact on(a) house prices and (b) levels of homelessness in the south-east region of a decision to allow individual local authorities to decide the overall level of provision of new dwellings over the next 20 years; and if he will make a statement. [144519]
§ Mr. MullinThe Government's policy is to encourage local authorities to work with one another and other stakeholders in order to take a strategic view of housing needs sensitive to the location of jobs and services and to future changes it circumstances. The new framework for the development of Regional Planning Guidance facilitates this approach and helps local authorities to plan, monitor and manage on a more flexible basis than under the former "predict and provide" regime which we have abandoned.
Planning on a purely local basis without this strategic framework would be likely to lead to higher house prices and increased homelessness in areas of high demand, and to other impacts such as skill shortages and longer journeys to work. It would also be likely to lead to inconsistent patterns of provision aggravating problems of shortage in some areas and conversely contributing to low demand and abandonment in others. However, the precise scale of these impacts is in the south-east would be difficult to estimate given the complexity of the housing market.