asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for every year since 1945 the number of people officially designated as homeless throughout the United Kingdom.

I regret this information is not available. Current information on homelessness, based on the operation of the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 is contained in statistics published today, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the number of homeless persons in the London area in the years 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, and to the latest convenient date in 1978.

The information is not available in the precise form requested. However, estimates of the number of homeless households in London for whom local authorities have accepted respon- sibility for securing accommodation are as follows:

1973	8,920
1974	11,360
1975	12,610
1976	12,440
1977* (Jan.-Nov.)	10,910
1978 (Jan.-Mar.)	3,460
* Converted to a 12 month base.

Estimates for 1973 and for the first quarter of 1978 are not strictly comparable with those for the intervening years. The 1973 result is based on returns made to the DHSS; these did not provide a complete record of homeless households directly rehoused in permanent accommodation without a stay in local authority temporary accommodation. The estimate for the first quarter of 1978 is based on a modified statistical system introduced to coincide with the implementation of the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act in December 1977.