§ 25. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that the present rents in new towns are generally in excess of gross annual values, that the proposed new rents will be even more so, and that average local authority housing rents are in general below gross annual value; and what steps he intends to take to remove this anomaly.
§ Dr. Dickson MabonI agree that the facts are as stated by my hon. Friend. If there is an anomaly it is not for my right hon. Friend to remove it. I would point out, however, that since the Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act, 1956, there has been no essential direct relationship between the rent actually passing for any house and its gross annual value for rating purposes.
§ Mr. HamiltonDoes the Scottish Office have in mind any figure for the relationship between gross annual value and rent? There seems to be considerable misunderstanding about this matter among tenants.
§ Dr. MabonI agree that housing economics are complicated and require a great deal of exploration, but my hon. Friend will remember from the memorandum to the Rate Support Grant Order what the Government's attitude is towards notional rents for calculations of G.A.V. in local authority areas. Our rent policy in the private sector is clear from the Rent Act, 1965. There are no ratepayers for new town development corporations who have to take the Exchequer grants as they are.
§ Mr. Bruce-GardyneWould not the hon. Gentleman agree that the best contribution to the solution of the housing problem in Scotland generally may be a move towards more economic rents?
§ Dr. MabonThat is not the only factor. The great tragedy of the party opposite is that it is transfixed by that as being the only solution.