§ Chris RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the level of council house rent rises was in each year since 1991 to 2001 in(a) real and (b) percentage terms, in each local authority in descending order. [30563]
§ Ms Keeble[holding answer 30 January 2002]: A table showing the annual change (actual and percentage) in the level of local authority weekly rents for each year from 1991–92 to 2001–02 has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
The local authorities are ranked in descending order, with the local authority with the biggest cumulative increase in council rent over the period 1990–91 to 2001–02—Barking and Dagenham—at the top.
It should be noted that between April 1990 and April 2001 the retail prices index rose by 38.4 per cent. Since only the last two local authorities in this table (Redbridge and Bournemouth) saw an overall rise in rents of less than 38.4 per cent, in all other authorities the "real" rise in council rents over the period 1990–91 to 2001–02 has been positive.
Note that the only local authorities shown in this table are those that existed both in 1990–91 and in 2001–02 and did not undergo any significant boundary changes during the intervening years.
Local authorities that existed in 1990–91 but have since transferred their stock to housing associations (registered social landlords) have been omitted.