REPAYMENT OF DISCOUNT ON EARLY DISPOSAL OF FREEHOLD OR LEASE (Hansard, 6 August 1980)

§ Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg
I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this it will be convenient to take Lords amendments Nos. 9, 100, 101, 102, 118 and 119.

§ Mr. Finsberg
These are technical amendments and, as the House knows. 605 we wish to encourage those who purchase houses from local authorities, or housing associations, to get the mortgages they need as far as possible from private sector lenders. In this way we seek to derive the maximum benefit to the public purse from the sale of council houses.
These amendments give first priority to the mortgages of certain other lenders besides local authorities, the Housing Corporation and building societies for whom the Bill already provides priority of mortgage. These other lenders are insurance companies, trustee savings banks and banks as identified for the purposes of the Home Purchase Assistance and Housing Corporation Guarantee Act 1978.

§ Mr. Stanley
I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this we may take Lords amendments Nos. 39, 97, 103 and 104.

§ Mr. Stanley
These amendments follow an undertaking that my hon. Friend the Member for Hampstead (Mr. Finsberg) gave to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Edge Hill (Mr. Alton) on Report, when he said that he would consider further the possible loophole in the provision in clause 8 for the repayment of discount where a purchaser under the right to buy resells within the five years. There was the possibility that the liability to repay discount in these circumstances might be avoided by granting a subsequent purchaser an option to buy rather than conveying the dwelling house to him straightforwardly during the five-year period. Because the grant of the option would not count as a disposal, there would be no liability to repay discount at that stage, and when the sale finally took place the five years would be up.
These amendments deal with this possible loophole and a similar one which could exist on the 10-year rural area 606 pre-emption safeguard under clause 18. They also cover the parallel case of discount sharing or a rural area safeguard imposed on a voluntary sales scheme under part V.

§ Mr. Kaufman
I acknowledge the Minister's concession. But I draw attention to the absence of the Liberal Party from the debate. The Liberal Party in my constituency, and no doubt in other constituencies, pretends that it has the interests of tenants and all other householders at heart, but that is a bogus act deceiving people. The Liberal Party is a propaganda party which is not interested in serious debate. I hope that it will be noted, as I shall make it known in Manchester, that when the Minister was responding to one of the rare Liberal amendments, the entire Liberal Party was absent from this place and it has so far not shown itself interested in one of the most important Bills to go through Parliament since the general election.
I acknowledge the Minister's concession, but I take this opportunity of exposing the Liberal Party's fraudulent and bogus claims to be interested in this legislation.