§ 14. Mr. Colemanasked the Secretary of State for Wales how many council house tenants will be affected in Wales by the provisions of the new Housing Finance Bill; and what will be the average increase in these rents.
§ Mr. Gibson-Watt:All council tenants will be affected by the provisions of the Bill. Some will pay more rent, some less, dependent upon the fair rent of the dwelling and their financial circumstances. No reliable estimates of the average increases or decreases can be made at present.
§ Mr. Coleman:How will the rent increases, of which the hon. Gentleman cannot give a reliable estimate, meet the Prime Minister's pledge to cut rising prices—or is that pledge, also, impossible to justify?
§ Mr. Gibson-Watt:As I said in my original answer, some rents will go up, some will come down, and this will depend on the fair rent of the dwellings and the financial circumstances of the tenants concerned.
§ Mr. Alec Jones:Does not the hon. Gentleman understand that the people of Wales will regard it as a scandal that the Government's so-called fair rents policy is being forced upon them without the 626 Welsh Office being able to provide us with an estimate of the extent of likely rent increases or how many of our people will be affected?
§ Mr. Gibson-Watt:If that is the hon. Gentleman's idea of a scandal, it is certainly not mine. As I said, under the Bill coming forward, some rents will go up—
§ Mr. Alec Jones:How many?
§ Mr. Gibson-Watt:—and some will come down. Until the rent assessment panels have looked into these matters, it will not be possible, as the hon. Gentleman knows perfectly well, for anyone to give accurate figures either at this Box or elsewhere.