Council House Sales (Hansard, 2 December 1981)

§ 18. Mr. Colin Shepherd
asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many council house sales to council tenants have been completed since the present legislation came into effect.

§ 24. Mr. Colvin
asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the latest figures of sales of council houses to sitting tenants under right-to-buy provisions.

§ Mr. Stanley
In the nine months to the end of June 1981 local authorities in England sold 46,500 council dwellings, mostly to sitting council tenants, of whch an estimated 11,300 were completed under the right-to-buy provisions.

§ Mr. Shepherd
The figures are very encouraging, but is my hon. Friend aware that the city of Hereford has been selling council houses for about 30 years? If the same criteria are adopted this year as were adopted last year for establishing grant-related expenditure, Hereford city council would be seriously penalised. Will my hon. Friend give an undertaking that that will be taken into account and that council house rents or rates in Hereford will not be forced to rise as a result of that authority having followed Government policies?

§ Mr. Stanley
I assure my hon. Friend that we have given detailed consideration to the make-up of the various grant-related expenditures, including the housing GRE, but I cannot now anticipate the proposals that my right hon. Friend will shortly be putting out to consultation.

§ Mr. Colvin
I welcome what my right hon. Friend has said, but has he seen reports in the press today that a future Labour Government would not only deprive council tenants of their right to buy their homes, but would cancel options granted to them during periods of Conservative Government? Will he comment on that?

§ Mr. Stanley
I am grateful to my hon. Friend, not least for the vigorous and strenuous way in which he has been upholding the right to buy of Bristol council tenants. The statement made by the Labour Party yesterday was a legal and constitutional monstrosity. It represented a disgraceful commitment to tear up existing contractual options, and an equally disgraceful commitment to impose retrospectively, on council tenants who had already bought, a right of the local authority to buy back.
The one good thing about yesterday's Labour Party statement is that it puts beyond doubt the fact that the Labour Party will be totally rejected by the electorate at the next election.

§ Mr. Dubs
Does the Minister agree that all over the country, as a consequence of his policies, there are empty council houses awaiting purchasers? They stand empty month after month and are an affront to the thousands of people on housing waiting lists.

§ Mr. Stanley
The hon. Member will find that the great majority of empty local authority dwellings are in the areas of Labour-controlled councils. As far as the hon. Member's general point is concerned, the effect over the country as a whole is that many tens of thousands of people have been given their first opportunity to obtain home ownership. Had it not been for this Government, they would not have had it.

§ Sir William Clark
As many housing officers throughout the country do not have sales expertise when selling council houses, does my hon. Friend agree that it would probably accelerate the sale of council houses if their sale were given to private enterprise?

§ Mr. Stanley
As my hon. Friend will be aware, we are encouraging local authorities, where they wish, to utilise the services of private surveyors and private solicitors in expediting the sale of council houses. I am glad to say that at least some authorities are doing so.

§ Mr. Allen McKay
Is the Minister aware that many of my constituents want a house and cannot get one because of the Government's policies? How many houses does he expect to build after existing council houses have been sold under the current procedure?

§ Mr. Stanley
If the hon. Member is concerned about making more council houses available, and more accommodation available for rent, I hope that he will encourage the right hon. Member for Manchester, Ardwick (Mr. Kaufman) to withdraw his monstrous commitment to repeal shorthold.