§ 22. Mr Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he has had with the New Forest district council concerning the sale of local authority houses to tenants.
§ Mr. StanleyI have had no discussions with the council on this subject but I am sending my hon. Friend copies of the correspondence my hon. Friend has had with it.
§ Mr. AdleyIs my hon. Friend aware that many of my constituents in Lymington, Pennington and New Milton who live in local authority houses are angry that their desire to buy their houses is being thwarted by the obstinacy of the supposedly Conservative council? In order to enable me to redeem my pledges to my constituents at the last election will my hon. Friend make it clear beyond peradventure that the Government will maintain their firm promise to ensue: that those people will have the 1352 chance to buy the homes, in which many of them have lived all their lives?
§ Mr. StanleyI assure my hon. Friend that there will be no wavering from the provisions of the right to buy and I am confident that his powers of persuasion will, sooner or later, persuade the Tory authority in the New Forest to give the right to buy to its tenants. In case Labour Members draw an incorrect conclusion from what my hon. Friend has said, I should point out that the information available to me indicates that of the 195 Conservative-controlled local authorities, 194 are selling.