Home Improvements

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To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what details he has as to the number of each type of grant given for home improvement in each of the last 10 years; and if he will give the cash total of each grant, in each case on a constant value cash basis.

The values of payments and the numbers of dwellings involved for each type of grant for home improvement over the period 1982 to 1992 are shown in the tables.Tables 1 and 2 cover, respectively, numbers of dwellings on which grants were paid to private owners and tenants under the Housing Act 1985 for the whole period, and numbers of grants paid under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 for 1990 onwards.Tables 3 and 4 give the respective total values of grants paid, and tables 5 and 6 show them expressed on a constant value basis at 1982 prices.

Table 1
Grants paid to private owners and tenants under Housing Act 1985^{1 2}
England			Number of dwellings
	Conversion and improvement	Intermediate and special	Repairs	All
1982	54,732	20,600	28,696	104,028
1983	79,529	27,236	113,061	219,826
1984	83,958	29,003	116,146	229,107
1985	52,989	29,012	54,411	136,412
1986	46,994	24,629	41,705	113,328
1987	49,383	19,661	39,864	108,908
1988	48,213	17,107	39,983	105,303
1989	48,711	14,027	35,479	98,217
1990	51,031	12,688	25,361	89,080
1991	15,477	4,233	6,510	26,220
1992	2,460	646	745	3,851
¹ The system of grants to private owners and tenants under the Housing Act 1985 ended at the end of June 1990. Although no more grants were approved after that date, payments will continue for grants approved earlier.
² Includes grants paid to housing associations under private owner legislation and grants to tenants in both private and public sectors.

Table 2
Grants paid to private owners and tenants under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989¹
England			Number of Grants
	1990	1991	1992
Renovation Grants
Mandatory	259	14,986	29,588
Discretionary	255	3,206	5,157
Disabled Facilities Grants
Mandatory	360	10,790	16,261
Discretionary	13	180	287
HMO² Grants
Mandatory	5	361	757
Discretionary	—	22	58

	1990	1991	1992
Common Parts Grants
Mandatory	4	51	122
Discretionary	—	17	27
Minor Works Assistance³
Mandatory	6,667	29,042	28,969
All
Mandatory	628	26,188	46,728
Discretionary	6,935	32,467	34,498
¹ The new system of grants under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 came into operation from July 1990 in England and Wales, apart from Minor Works Assistance (April 1990).
² HMO stands for Houses in Multiple Occupation.
³ Grants for Minor Works Assistance are discretionary.

Table 3
Grants paid to private owners and tenants under Housing Act 1985^{1 2}
England			£ thousands
	Conversion and improvement	Intermediate and special	Repairs	All
1982	185,867	42,108	54,184	282,159
1983	318,712	65,453	271,325	655,490
1984	413,840	83,619	341,924	839,383
1985	271,996	86,751	166,352	525,099
1986	208,771	72,368	113,783	394,921
1987	199,977	54,482	107,554	362,013
1988	190,908	46,658	109,508	347,074
1989	188,092	39,683	100,881	328,656
1990	202,655	34,628	74,545	311,828
1991	91,083	14,701	21,004	126,788
1992	15,700	2,529	2,473	20,702
¹ The system of grants to private owners and tenants under the Housing Act 1985 ended at the end of June 1990. Although no more grants were approved after that date, payments will continue for grants approved earlier.
² Includes grants paid to housing associations under private owner legislation and grants to tenants in both private and public sectors.

Table 4
Grants paid to private owners and tenants under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989¹
England		£ thousands
	1990	1991	1992
Renovation Grants
Mandatory	1,144	124,766	289,562
Discretionary	309	12,536	20,829
Disabled Facilities Grants
Mandatory	656	31,911	58,342
Discretionary	37	624	1,182
HMO² Grants
Mandatory	29	2,093	5,805
Discretionary	—	123	598
Common Parts Grants
Mandatory	16	390	694
Discretionary	—	121	151
Minor Works Assistance³
Discretionary	3,541	17,115	18,422
All
Mandatory	1,845	159,160	354,403
Discretionary	3,887	30,519	41,182
¹ The new systen of grants under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 came into operation from July 1990 in England

and Wales, apart from Minor Works Assistance (April 1990).
² HMO stands for Houses in Multiple Occupation.
³ Grants for Minor Works Assistance are discretionary.

Table 5
Value of grants paid under Housing Act 1985, at constant 1982 prices^{1, 2, 3}
England			£ thousands
	Conversion and improvement	Intermediate and special	Repairs	All
1982	185,867	42,108	54,184	282,159
1983	304,870	62,610	259,541	627,022
1984	376,976	76,170	311,466	764,613
1985	233,645	74,519	142,896	451,060
1986	173,437	60,120	94,526	328,082
1987	159,499	43,454	85,784	288,736
1988	145,124	35,468	83,245	263,838
1989	132,653	27,987	71,147	231,786
1990	130,593	22,315	48,038	200,945
1991	55,450	8,950	12,787	77,187
1992	9,212	1,484	1,451	12,147
¹ The system of grants to private owners and tenants under the Housing Act 1985 ended at the end of June 1990. Although no more grants were approved after that date, payments will continue for grants approved earlier.
² Includes grants paid to housing associations under private owner legislation and grants to tenants in both private and public sectors.
³ Value of grants paid converted to constant prices using the Retail Prices Index.

Table 6
Value of grants paid under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, at constant 1982 prices^{1 2}
England		£ thousands
	1990	1991	1992
Renovation Grants
Mandatory	737	75,956	169,900
Discretionary	199	7,632	12,221
Disabled Facilities Grants
Mandatory	423	19,427	34,232
Discretionary	24	380	694
HMO³ Grants
Mandatory	19	1,274	3,406
Discretionary	—	75	351
Common Parts Grants
Mandatory	10	237	407
Discretionary	—	74	89
Minor Works Assistance⁴
Discretionary	2,282	10,419	10,809
All
Mandatory	1,189	96,895	207,945
Discretionary	2,505	18,580	24,163
¹ The new system of grants under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 came into operation from July 1990 in England and Wales, apart from Minor Works Assistance (April 1990).
² Value of grants paid converted to constant prices using the Retail Prices Index.
³ HMO stands for Houses in Multiple Occupation.
⁴ Grants for Minor Works Assistance are discretionary.

Volume 228: debated on Thursday 8 July 1993