HC Deb 27 October 1971 vol 823 cc1721-2
19. Mr. Chapman

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take steps to encourage the increase of home ownership by the building of more private houses for lower income groups.

Mr. Amery

The Government have already taken a number of steps—for example, the reduction of S.E.T., the improvement of the option mortgage scheme and the removal of money limits on local authority mortgage lending—to improve the prospect of home ownership for people with modest incomes. I share my hon. Friend's anxiety that there should be a good supply of cheaper houses for sale for such people. I shall be pursuing the point in my periodical discussions with leaders of the building industry, the building society movement and local authorities.

Mr. Chapman

I recognise what the Government have done already, but has my right hon. Friend noticed the sharp increase in land prices over the last few months, which, to say the least, severely limits the number of families with low incomes who can start the process of buying their own houses? Would not this problem be somewhat alleviated if those many local authorities which have been dilatory were to expedite implementation of his Department's Circular 10/70 and make more land available for building?

Mr. Amery

I agree that it is important that local authorities should make as much land available as possible. This is particularly so in stress areas like London and is one of the reasons why I have asked my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State, who helps me in these matters, to take charge of the action group in London, which, among other things, has the responsibility of making as much land as possible available for housing.

Mr. Molloy

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that in the London Borough of Ealing there are flats and houses for sale at a cost of about £30 or £40 a week, and that that is not much help to the 6,000 people on the housing register? Will he give an assurance that he will have discussions with those London boroughs which are facing problems like that of Ealing and see whether we can help the new local authorities to purchase land to rehouse people at rents that they can afford?

Mr. Amery

The hon. Gentleman seems to overlook the fact that my hon. Friend and I had a whole day's conference with leaders of all the London boroughs, Inner and Outer, regardless of party, to try to thrash out a new approach to the problem and to see how we can get more council houses built and more houses built for sale. I think that it was a successful conference, and I believe that my hon. Friend, through his action group, will be able to follow it up.