§ 3. Mr. Allasonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made in offering the sale of new town flats and maisonettes to sitting tenants.
§ The Minister for Housing and Construction (Mr. Paul Channon)Development corporations and the commission were asked in June to review their stocks of flats and maisonettes with a view to making available as many of them as possible for sale to sitting tenants at a discount.
§ Mr. AllasonI congratulate my hon. Friend on that reply, and wish to inform him that a large number of flat-dwellers will be delighted to hear what he has said. What steps is he taking to ensure 1499 that flat-dwellers, as opposed to the development corporations, know about this?
§ Mr. ChannonI think and hope that this has been widely publicised, but if there are examples where it is not widely known I hope that my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mr. Allason) will seek to publicise this matter more widely in his own constituency. I shall be delighted to consider what other publicity measures might be necessary.
§ Mr. ChurchillIs my hon. Friend aware that in the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Romania it is possible for people to buy their own homes? Is not it time that the British people had this basic right?
§ Mr. ChannonIt always astonishes me that about the only people in the world who do not want to sell houses to their tenants are Labour-controlled local authorities.
§ Mr. William PriceAnd the brewers.