To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people living (a) in Colchester local authority area and (b) outside the Colchester local authority area are on the Colchester housing transfer list; and what the figures were in 1997. (133373)

Information regarding housing transfers is not held centrally. However, local authorities in England report the numbers of households (not people) on their housing waiting list as at 1 April in their annual Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix returns. I refer the hon. Member to my reply given today UIN 133374.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people living (a) in Colchester local authority area and (b) outside the Colchester local authority area are on the Colchester housing waiting list; and what the figures were in 1997. (133374)

Local authorities in England report the numbers of households (not people) on their housing waiting list as at 1 April in their annual Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix returns. However, the information is not broken down by whether the household is living within or outside the local authority district.

The number of households on Colchester borough council’s housing waiting list, as at 1 April each year, is published on the Communities and Local Government website in Table 600. The link for this table is given as follows:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/embedded_object.asp?id::=l163853

Not everyone on the waiting list is necessarily in urgent housing need. The waiting list includes those who consider social housing as their preferred or one of a number of housing options, and those who decide to get on to the waiting list ladder before they need or want to move house—particularly where the priority system is heavily based on waiting time.