asked the Minister for the Environment the terms of the remedial works scheme which made capital available for improvements to local authority houses and estates.
Written Answers. - Remedial Works Scheme.
566.
Under the new scheme capital subsidisable at a rate not exceeding 80 per cent will be made available from the allocation for local authority housing to enable housing authorities to carry out essential remedial works of a structural nature to certain of their dwellings which have been affected by serious deterioration. The new scheme will apply to housing estates where the structural deterioration is the result of design or construction faults or where the dwellings are more than 50 years old.
It is a basic condition of the scheme that the balance of economic advantage should be shown to lie with the restoration of the dwellings involved and that the proposed works will provide the most economic solution to the deterioration problem, while achieving acceptable design and construction standards. The housing authority is also expected to provide, from its own resources and in co-operation with tenants' organisations, for the carrying out of any necessary environmental and improvement works in relation to the scheme as a whole. If necessary, proposals for assistance under the scheme will be dealt with on a priority basis related to the need and urgency of the works required.
In the case of older houses it is permissible to include in an application provision for essential works of improvement (such as the provision of a water supply, sewerage facilities or bathroom in a house without such facilities) provided that the other necessary works of reconstruction arising from structural deficiency are sufficient to bring the houses within the scope of the scheme. The maximum subsidisable allocation for any house of this category is £12,000. In the case of other houses the works admissible are confined to those which are essential to correct inherent defects or are ancillary to the correction of such defects.
Tenant-purchase houses may be included in an application where it is necessary to do so for practical reasons. In such cases the prior written agreement of the tenant-purchasers must be obtained together with a commitment to meet at least one half of the cost of the subsidisable works.