HC Deb 26 January 1983 vol 35 cc880-1
2. Mr. Adley

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those local authorities against which he is currently contemplating action for their failure to comply with the law relating to the sale of council houses to sitting tenants; and if he will make a statement.

The Minister for Housing and Construction (Mr. John Stanley)

With permission I will publish in the Official Report the authorities under formal warning that my right hon. Friend is contemplating use of his powers of intervention under section 23 of the Housing Act 1980 either on behalf of their tenants generally or on behalf of a specific tenant or tenants who are experiencing delay. Progress on the right to buy is now generally satisfactory and I estimate that since the Government were elected the number of sales in Great Britain is now approaching half a million.

Mr. Adley

To encourage my hon. Friend to do what he can to ensure that the will of the House is carried out and that the benefits of the legislation that has been passed are made available to those who are still being deprived, may I, on behalf of many of my constituents thank him for and, indeed, congratulate him on, the diligence and perseverance with which he has seen through the House and put on the statute book what is perhaps one of the most significant pieces of social legislation that we have seen for a long time?

Mr. Stanley

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I entirely agree with what he said about the immense social importance of emancipating financially so many hundreds of thousands of families in this country.

Mr. Woodall

Will the Minister give the figure for the number of council house starts to replace the 500,000 council houses that are being sold?

Mr. Stanley

We shall come to that in a later question, but I can tell the hon. Gentleman that there has been a substantial increase in public sector housing starts this year.

Mr. Durant

Is my right hon. Friend looking, in his current Housing and Building Conrol Bill, at the onerous restrictions and covenants that are placed by many local authorities on the ability of people to buy their council houses?

Mr. Stanley

My hon. Friend is on to an important point. A provision in the Bill before the House makes it clear that the criterion of reasonableness applies to all covenants and conditions that are imposed on council tenants who exercise their right to buy.

The authorities are as follows:

* The warning is in respect of only a specific case or cases.