asked the Minister for the Environment if he is prepared to require local housing authorities to set up a housing register showing (a) the name of the owner and (b) the purpose for which the house is being used, whether as a family residence, rented in flats, or rented as a single dwelling; and if he envisages merit in this proposal in order to get a clear picture of the current use of the housing stock.
Written Answers. - Local Authority Housing Register.
144.
While I agree that there is merit in local authorities keeping a register of privately-rented housing accommodation along the lines of that required by the bylaws made under section 70 of the Housing Act, 1966, I would be loath to place on them the burden of registering every house according to the way in which it is occupied. Such information is normally collected by the Central Statistics Office in the course of the Censuses of Population, the next one of which will be taken in April 1981.