§ 16. Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total amount of funds realised by, and available to, local authorities through sales of local authority houses to sitting tenants; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir George YoungSales of council houses in the first three quarters of 1981–82 are estimated to have generated £388 million in capital receipts. Most of the sales were to sitting tenants but I have no separate figures for such sales. In addition, a total of £473 million was left outstanding on mortgages supplied by local authorities following such sales.
§ Mr. AdleyAre not those impressive figures a vindication of the Government's policy on the right to buy? As some people still do not recognise the fact, can my hon. Friend confirm that local authorities can reinvest the funds in housing? Are not the few local authorities that are still flouting the law not only being undemocratic but acting contrary to the interests of good housing in their area? As the Act has been on the statute book more than a year, what further action does the Department contemplate to give people the right to buy?
§ Sir George YoungMy hon. Friend is right. The Government take seriously any denial of rights to individuals that have been passed by the House. As my hon. Friend knows, the Secretary of State intervened to uphold those rights in Norwich. The Minister of State is looking carefully at a number of authorities whose performance is unsatisfactory. The Government are determined that people who want to buy their council houses should not be frustrated in that ambition.
§ Mr. FlanneryIs not the sale of council houses a severe loss to local councils and does it not diminish the chances of people on the waiting lists in urgent need of council houses? When will the Government realise that they are selling the houses at approximately half their cost and that the money is in no way sufficient to build the same number of houses for those who urgently need them? Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that those people are in a different position from the people who buy the houses, who have already been housed by the local council?
§ Sir George YoungThe resources that the local authority gets when it sells council houses are available to it to meet the housing needs in the area——
§ Mr. DobsonOne-twelfth.
§ Sir George YoungIt is not the case that people in immediate need of housing would be helped by changing the policy. People who buy their council houses, by and large, would not have vacated them in the short term.