§ 26. Mr. McCannasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he is aware of the effects of Section 60 of the Housing Act, 1957, whereby tenants of a fit house in a clearance area are precluded 211 from payments in respect of well-main-tamed houses; and if he will introduce legislation to end this anomaly.
Dr. HillI assume the hon. Member has in mind the compulsory purchase of a fit house under slum clearance powers. The owner of a fit house receives market value compensation. A payment for good maintenance, which can be added to site value in the case of an unfit house, cannot therefore be made in addition.
§ Mr. McCannIs not the Minister aware that when a well-maintained payment is made the local authority has the right to allocate the compensation between the tenant who has spent the money and the landlord, but that if the house is declared fit all of the money goes to the landlord thereby depriving the tenant of his rights? Does the right hon. Gentleman think that this is right?
Dr. HillWhat happens in the case of a fit house, which is set, like the hon. Gentleman's example, in the middle of a clearance area, is that what is paid is paid in the same way, and to the owner, as if the house were disposed of in the ordinary way.
§ Mr. McCannThe Minister is missing the point. Is he not aware that the local authority can make a well-maintained payment for an unfit house and give the whole of it to the tenant who has paid the money, but that if the house is declared fit the tenant who has paid the money loses all his rights because the money is paid to the landlord?
Dr. HillI will look into the hon. Gentleman's point, because he is right in saying that there is a mode of distribution for the good maintenance payment. The good maintenance payment cannot be paid in respect of a fit house bought at valuation in the ordinary way.