HC Deb 23 February 1983 vol 37 cc925-6
16. Mr. Winnick

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce legislation to permit as of right private tenants to purchase the accommodation they live in.

Mr. Stanley

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 15 February 1982.

Mr. Winnick

Why should the one group of tenants most at risk from unscrupulous landlords and property companies be denied the right to buy as of right? Is the explanation—perhaps the Minister will be honest enough to admit it—that Tory Ministers do not consider it part of their job to offend substantial property interests, including those who sit on Conservative Benches and in another place?

Mr. Stanley

We have made it clear to the hon. Gentleman on many occasions that we believe that sales in the private sector should be by a voluntary process. The Government do not believe that a Government have the right to require the disposal of houses that have been purchased by private individuals with their own assets. It is strange that the hon. Gentleman has raised that issue when he has spent an inordinate amount of time in Standing Committee F denying and arguing against the right to buy in the public sector.

Sir Albert Costain

Does my hon. Friend realise that a number of landlords are offering their tenants the opportunity to buy on exactly the same terms as council tenants? My hon. Friend must appreciate that there are some good landlords and that they are not all demons and devils, as the hon. Gentleman implies.

Mr. Stanley

My hon. Friend, as always, is entirely right. Our estimate is that over the past decade between 150,000 and 200,000 sitting tenants in the private sector have been able to negotiate the purchase of their homes from their landlords.

Mr. R. C. Mitchell

If the Conservative party really believes in a property-owning democracy, why on earth do not the Government extend this principle by accepting the excellent suggestion made by the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick)?

Mr. Stanley

That is an interesting observation. I am sure that it will be noted outside that the alliance has no regard to private assets in private property.

Mr. Cryer

Is it not true that the Conservative party has every respect for private assets, which is why it will not advance to these tenants rights which it regards as very important for the public sector? Is it not true that the Tory party is bent on destroying the public sector and hiving off important public assets, which will not add a single house to the public sector and will inevitably lengthen housing waiting lists in the public sector?

Mr. Stanley

We have no wish to destroy the public sector, as the hon. Gentleman suggests. We have an expanding house building programme and an expanding provision of public expenditure in the public sector. We believe that the aspirations of the overwhelming majority of people to buy their homes should be fulfilled wherever possible.

Mr. Durant

Does my hon. Friend agree that many councils are extremely bad landlords and that is why the Government had to introduce a tenants' charter?

Mr. Stanley

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point. He is entirely right. As a result of the Government's actions through the Housing Act 1980 and the provisions that we have tabled to the present legislation, we shall have brought about the most important single extension of the legal rights of all tenants in the public sector.