---

Home Ownership

Sir John Stanley: To ask the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister how many home-owners there were in (a) 1979, (b) 1997 and (c) at the latest date for which figures are available; and what percentage of the population this represented at each of these dates. [60792]

Mr. McNulty: Consistent estimates of the number of owner occupied households are not available before 1981. For England, the information requested for 1981, 1979 and 2000 is given in the following table.

Owner occupied households in England

Year	Owner occupied households (thousand)	All households (thousand)	Percentage of owner occupiers
1981	9,860	17,225	57
1997–98	13,940	20,250	69
2000–01	14,437	20,660	70

Source:

Survey of English Housing, ODPM

House Fires

Mrs. May: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many households were made homeless by house fires in each of the last six years. [60434]

Mr. McNulty: Precise information is not collected centrally. Data presented in the quarterly Statistical Release on Statutory Homelessness includes the number of households accepted by local authorities where homelessness was due to an emergency (table 3), but this does not distinguish cases involving house fires. Copies of the latest Statistical Release, issued on 14 March 2002 and covering the period to end December 2001, are available in the Library.

Mrs. May: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many people were (a) killed and (b) injured in house fires in the UK in each of the last six years, broken down by (i) deliberate and (ii) accidental fires. [60433]

Mr. Raynsford: The following table shows the number of people killed or injured in deliberate and accidental dwelling ¹ fires in the UK between 1995 and 2000.

	Deliberate fires(10)		Accidental fires
	Deaths(11)	Injuries(11)	Deaths(11)	Injuries(11)
1995	78	1,932	481	11,176
1996	76	2,026	488	12,163
1997	65	2,019	497	12,877
1998	59	2,152	454	12,827
1999	65	2,068	398	12,556
2000(12)	51	2,326	396	12,065

⁽⁹⁾ Including caravans, houseboats and other non-building permanent dwellings.

⁽¹⁰⁾ Includes those fires where deliberate ignition is merely suspected.

⁽¹¹⁾ Including brigade casualties.

⁽¹²⁾ Data for 2000 are provisional. Death figures have been estimated to take account of revisions expected to occur as a result of checks made against death certificates later in the year.

Mrs. May: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many house fires there were in each of the last six years broken down by (a) deliberate and (b) accidental fires in each fire authority. [60437]

Mr. Raynsford: The information is contained in the table.

Fires⁽¹³⁾ in dwellings⁽¹⁴⁾ by brigade area and motive, UK, 1995–2000

	1995(15)			1996			1997
Brigade area	Total	Accidental	Malicious	Total	Accidental	Malicious	Total	Accidental	Malicious
United Kingdom	66,401	52,761	13,640	71,709	57,456	14,253	72,492	58,708	13,784
England and Wales	55,182	43,783	11,399	59,955	48,152	11,803	60,957	49,568	11,389
England	52,175	41,212	10,963	56,626	45,396	11,230	57,584	46,783	10,800
England: Non-met counties	26,645	22,231	4,414	29,381	24,787	4,594	29,970	25,569	4,401
Avon	841	689	152	980	814	166	1,047	896	151
Bedfordshire	458	379	79	466	357	109	536	424	112
Berkshire	559	492	67	646	568	78	671	596	75
Buckinghamshire	646	543	104	726	643	83	738	631	107
Cambridgeshire	491	395	96	562	433	129	579	453	126
Cheshire	922	770	152	1,010	804	206	1,069	875	194
Cleveland	1,117	545	571	954	581	373	852	594	258
Cornwall	375	354	21	452	414	38	481	455	26
Cumbria	543	459	84	609	517	92	587	505	82
Derbyshire	644	555	89	710	603	107	773	650	123
Devon	1,030	904	126	1,117	987	130	1,189	1,086	103
Dorset	467	430	37	522	478	44	568	519	49
Durham	658	530	128	653	539	114	719	566	153
East Sussex	890	779	111	1,000	867	133	995	852	143
Essex	1,015	883	132	1,091	978	113	1,041	918	123
Gloucestershire	471	405	66	479	432	47	511	461	50
Hampshire	1,138	993	145	1,410	1,159	251	1,321	1,141	180
Hereford and Worcester	529	471	58	670	615	55	762	679	83
Hertfordshire	725	644	80	903	805	98	951	853	98
Humberside	907	695	211	1,018	797	221	1,082	797	285
Isle of Wight	116	108	8	154	144	10	163	155	8
Kent	1,176	1,001	175	1,316	1,110	206	1,401	1,217	184
Lancashire	2,290	1,832	458	2,413	2,042	371	2,287	1,909	378
Leicestershire	765	597	168	825	625	200	774	603	171
Lincolnshire	404	337	68	429	338	91	475	412	63
Norfolk	532	462	70	551	469	82	629	549	80
North Yorkshire	450	406	44	567	524	43	476	433	43
Northamptonshire	564	478	87	671	567	104	780	643	137
Northumberland	277	239	38	358	312	46	324	271	53
Nottinghamshire	1,028	771	257	1,161	897	264	1,158	937	221
Oxfordshire	485	428	56	520	453	67	452	393	59
Shropshire	370	317	53	370	315	55	382	340	42
Somerset	341	314	28	363	338	25	389	350	39
Staffordshire	875	739	135	983	820	163	956	827	129
Suffolk	574	523	51	559	516	43	563	512	51
Surrey	616	558	58	669	615	54	701	646	55
Warwickshire	373	327	46	397	339	58	416	367	49
West Sussex	607	555	52	626	565	61	670	597	73
Wiltshire	375	323	52	468	404	64	498	454	44
Isles of Scilly	0	0	0	3	3	0	2	2	0
England: Met-counties	25,530	18,981	6,549	27,245	20,609	6,636	27,613	21,214	6,399
Greater Manchester	4,425	3,196	1,230	4,835	3,527	1,308	4,934	3,607	1,327
Merseyside	2,720	1,861	860	2,782	1,955	827	2,932	2,009	923
South Yorkshire	1,371	1,093	279	1,441	1,092	349	1,416	1,116	300
Tyne and Wear	2,081	1,180	902	1,913	1,239	674	2,117	1,456	661
West Midlands	4,240	3,141	1,099	4,643	3,418	1,225	4,610	3,504	1,106
West Yorkshire	2,656	1,930	725	2,925	2,142	783	2,875	2,156	719
Greater London	8,037	6,581	1,455	8,705	7,236	1,469	8,729	7,366	1,363
Wales	3,006	2,571	435	3,329	2,756	573	3,373	2,784	589
North Wales	686	615	71	805	704	101	758	656	102
Mid and West Wales	915	834	81	949	816	133	999	860	139
South Wales	1,406	1,122	284	1,576	1,237	339	1,616	1,268	348
Northern Ireland	2,067	1,558	509	2,238	1,606	632	2,210	1,616	594
Scotland	9,152	7,420	1,732	9,516	7,698	1,818	9,325	7,524	1,801
Strathclyde	4,620	3,776	845	4,685	3,823	862	4,716	3,845	871
Highland and Islands	339	321	17	309	288	21	288	269	19
Grampian	668	576	92	757	632	125	711	605	106
Tayside	772	628	144	834	670	161	780	647	133
Lothian and Borders	1,765	1,252	513	1,906	1,367	539	1,832	1,264	568
Fife	469	391	78	475	404	71	463	410	53
Central	349	317	32	367	329	38	356	317	39
Dumfries	171	158	12	186	185	1	179	167	12

11 Jun 2002 : Column 1151W

	1998			1999			2000(16)
Brigade area	Total	Accidental	Malicious	Total	Accidental	Malicious	Total	Accidental	Malicious
United Kingdom	71,077	57,718	13,359	72,228	58,366	13,862	70,897	56,655	14,242
England and Wales	59,680	48,701	10,979	60,808	49,497	11,311	59,413	47,929	11,484
England	56,464	46,052	10,412	57,490	46,744	10,746	56,184	45,277	10,907
England: Non-met counties	29,463	25,008	4,455	29,942	25,563	4,379	29,243	24,539	4,704
Avon	974	831	143	970	826	144	976	820	156
Bedfordshire	485	368	117	431	366	65	463	374	89
Berkshire	695	612	83	726	673	53	687	616	71
Buckinghamshire	740	636	104	679	609	70	669	569	100
Cambridgeshire	569	442	127	547	432	115	547	444	103
Cheshire	1,067	888	179	999	835	164	999	818	181
Cleveland	776	545	231	836	562	274	951	658	293
Cornwall	445	400	45	436	408	28	470	426	44
Cumbria	641	576	65	609	535	74	551	466	85
Derbyshire	775	655	120	783	663	120	734	617	117
Devon	1,144	1,055	89	1,226	1,128	98	1,290	1,118	102
Dorset	510	462	48	491	446	45	530	478	52
Durham	702	601	101	677	567	110	690	572	118
East Sussex	1,043	904	139	1,128	993	135	1,038	900	138
Essex	1,024	879	145	1,220	1,064	156	1,265	1,073	192
Gloucestershire	512	460	52	521	474	47	456	408	48
Hampshire	1,428	1,212	216	1,491	1,290	201	1,407	1,269	138
Hereford and Worcester	743	679	64	689	640	49	594	537	57
Hertfordshire	894	812	82	947	856	91	936	851	85
Humberside	1,060	788	272	1,104	820	284	1,043	743	300
Isle of Wight	169	162	7	165	164	1	151	141	10
Kent	1,318	1,113	205	1,272	1,108	164	1,242	1,051	191
Lancashire	2,324	1,894	430	2,273	1,729	544	2,299	1,770	529
Leicestershire	838	607	231	737	567	170	656	488	168
Lincolnshire	457	379	78	519	446	73	512	444	68
Norfolk	574	471	103	583	508	75	584	489	95
North Yorkshire	503	451	52	545	479	66	666	597	69
Northamptonshire	714	596	118	715	580	135	653	501	152
Northumberland	311	251	60	308	269	39	332	266	66
Nottinghamshire	1,074	870	204	1,109	886	223	1,043	799	244
Oxfordshire	509	461	48	474	421	53	490	429	61
Shropshire	357	296	61	436	380	56	361	317	44
Somerset	385	351	34	387	349	38	436	390	46
Staffordshire	985	866	119	1,182	1,047	135	926	778	148
Suffolk	523	472	51	554	500	54	510	447	63
Surrey	666	615	51	629	588	41	645	585	60
Warwickshire	396	343	53	402	349	53	353	287	66
West Sussex	648	570	78	659	577	82	651	544	107
Wiltshire	484	434	50	482	428	54	435	387	48
Isles of Scilly	1	1	0	1	1	0	2	2	0
England: Met-counties	27,001	21,044	5,957	27,548	21,181	6,367	26,941	20,738	6,203
Greater Manchester	4,782	3,531	1,251	5,120	3,697	1,423	4,934	3,654	1,280
Merseyside	2,914	2,023	891	3,018	2,009	1,009	3,023	1,975	1,048
South Yorkshire	1,483	1,165	318	1,433	1,092	341	1,463	1,092	371
Tyne and Wear	2,318	1,721	597	2,241	1,696	545	2,210	1,717	493
West Midlands	4,400	3,428	972	4,429	3,444	985	4,243	3,201	1,042
West Yorkshire	2,582	1,940	642	2,505	1,877	628	2,510	1,904	606
Greater London	8,522	7,236	1,286	8,802	7,366	1,436	8,558	7,195	1,363
Wales	3,216	2,649	567	3,318	2,753	565	3,229	2,652	577
North Wales	704	607	97	824	704	120	776	674	102
Mid and West Wales	955	831	124	1,029	884	145	984	566	118
South Wales	1,557	1,211	346	1,465	1,165	300	1,469	1,112	357
Northern Ireland	2,243	1,601	642	2,005	1,398	607	2,175	1,505	670
Scotland	9,154	7,416	1,738	9,415	7,471	1,644	9,309	7,221	2,088
Strathclyde	4,575	3,795	780	4,727	3,774	953	257	3,685	1,007
Highland and Islands	322	300	22	288	274	14	273	257	16
Grampian	761	658	103	885	762	123	864	723	141
Tayside	730	603	127	795	636	159	788	619	169
Lothian and Borders	1,752	1,207	545	1803	1,241	562	1,765	1,174	591
Fife	510	422	88	437	363	74	418	326	92
Central	354	300	54	326	282	44	335	279	56
Dumfries	150	131	19	154	139	15	174	158	16

⁽¹³⁾ Including late call, heat and smoke (LCHS) incidents. Fires are sampled and weighted to brigade totals.

⁽¹⁴⁾ Includes caravans, houseboats and other non-building structures used solely as a permanent dwelling.

⁽¹⁵⁾ Excludes some late call, heat and smoke incidents.

⁽¹⁶⁾ Figures for 2000 are provisional.

11 Jun 2002 : Column 1153W

11 Jun 2002 : Column 1155W

---