asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what are the conditions with reference to time in the making of an application for the standard grant.

An application for grant must be submitted to the local authority and approved by it before the improvement works begin. This is the only statutory requirement in regard to the timing of an application.

I obviously worded my Question badly. What expectation of life must there be for a house before it obtains a standard grant? Is my hon. Friend aware that a constituent of mine who wanted to sell a house was told, when a search was made, that the Ministry of Transport would want it one day because it was on the line of a road improvement? Is he aware that the prospective purchaser then disappeared, the county council then withdrew its proviso concerning this House, and my constituent then wished to live in the house himself and applied for a standard grant, whereupon he was told that although it was off the list he could not have a standard grant because at some stage the house would be knocked down? Is it not ridiculous to allow such a house to crumble away when it could have a reasonable expectation of life?

The answer to the real question asked by my hon. Friend is "Fifteen years". The answer to the question whether I was aware of all these things, is "No". It is a matter for the local authority to assess the probable life of a dwelling, in relation both to its physical condition and to what development plans there may be, either on the part of a highway authority or for slum clearance.