Vol. 413 No. 6
41 Mr. J. Mitchell asked the Minister for the Environment if he has any plans to either introduce legislation or take any administrative action regarding nonstructural maintenance undertaken by local authorities on their own tenancy dwellings with specific regard to (1) the type or amount of maintenance, (2) the cost and (3) the method of same; and whether he will consider reducing local authority rents as a quid pro quo for a reduction in work on house maintenance.
The management, including the fixing of rents, and maintenance of their rented dwellings are matters for housing authorities, to be determined in the light of local circumstances. As indicated in the Plan for Social Housing, it is intended that the forthcoming Housing Bill will contain provisions to ensure that authorities have adequate and sufficiently flexible legal powers to enable them to make estate management arrangements best suited to local circumstances, including assigning responsibilities and resources to properly constitued tenants' associations, approved bodies, etc. Pending the enactment of this legislation, it is proposed to issue a circular letter to local authorities requesting them to review their existing management and maintenance operations and to prepare a statement of their future policy in these matters.
