asked the Minister for the Environment the full annual cost of State support for housing including local authority building grants and loan subsidies and tax relief on house purchase loans; and if the overall effectiveness of the expenditure has been re-examined in the light of recent demographic trends.
Written Answers. - State Housing Support Cost.
35.
I propose to circulate in the Official Report a summary statement of public expenditure on housing, for which my Department is responsible, for the years 1987 and 1988. Taxation expenditures in relation to housing, such as mortgage interest relief, are a matter for the Minister for Finance. Expenditure in relation to housing costs under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme is a matter for the Minister for Social Welfare.
The annual Estimates process undertaken by this Government in the past two years involved an unprecedentedly thorough re-examination of all areas of public expenditure, including housing, from viewpoints of need, effectiveness and efficiency. Of course, regard has been had to demographic and other relevant trends in these reviews.
Following is the statement.
|
1987 |
1988 |
|
|
£m |
£m |
|
|
Capital Expenditure: |
||
|
Local authority house building |
77.3 |
35.5 |
|
Travellers (Group Housing and Sites) |
2.7 |
3.5 |
|
Remedial Works |
7.0 |
9.0 |
|
House Purchase and Improvement Loans |
162.6 |
69.4 |
|
Private Housing Grants |
115.9 |
75.7 |
|
Voluntary Housing |
2.4 |
5.0 |
|
Other |
1.7 |
2.1 |
|
Total Capital |
369.6 |
200.2 |
|
Current Expenditure: |
||
|
(a) Exchequer |
||
|
Local Authority Housing Subsidy (1) |
194.4 |
2.1 |
|
Mortgage Subsidy |
25.5 |
23.3 |
|
Grant to Housing Finance Agency |
9.0 |
5.3 |
|
Other |
1.7 |
1.3 |
|
(b) Local Authority |
||
|
Maintenance and Management of Local Authority Houses |
80.0 |
75.0 |
|
Total Current (1) |
310.6 |
107.0 |
|
Total Capital and Current (1) |
680.2 |
307.2 |
Notes: (1) From 1 January 1988 the system of funding local authority housing by way of LLF loans and subsidy was replaced by a system of capital grants. The subsidy figures for 1987 and 1988 therefore are not comparable.