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Lords amendment No. 62, after clause 21, insert the following new clause—
.—(1) Except with the consent of the Secretary of State, a local authority shall not dispose of a dwelling-house to which this section applies otherwise than in pursuance of Chapter I of Part I of the 1980 Act or this Part of this Act.
(2) A dwelling-house is one to which this section applies if—
(3) A consent under this section may be given either generally to all local authorities or to any particular local authority or description of authority and either generally in relation to all dwelling-houses to which this section applies or in relation to any particular dwelling-house or description of dwelling-house to which this section applies.
(4) Any such consent may be given subject to such conditions as the Secretary of State sees fit to impose.
(5) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (4) above, any such consent may be given subject to conditions as to the price, premium or rent to be obtained on a disposal of a dwelling-house to which this section applies, including conditions as to the amount by which, on a disposal of such a dwelling-house by way of sale or by the grant or assignment of a lease at a premium, the price or premium is to be, or may be, discounted by the local authority.
(6) Section 26(1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1959 (power of local authorities etc. to dispose of land without consent) shall not apply to any disposal which requires a consent under this section.
(7) If—
then, unless the disposal is to an individual (or to two or more individuals) and does not extend to any other dwelling-house to which this section applies, it shall be void and section 128(2) of the Local Government Act 1972 or, as the case may be, section 29 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1959 (protection of purchasers) shall not apply.(8) For the purposes of this section the grant of an option to purchase the freehold of, or any other interest in, a dwelling-house to which this section applies is a disposal and any consent given under this section to such a disposal extends to any disposal made in pursuance of the option.
(9) In this section "local authority" has the same meaning as in section 20 above.
§ Mr. GowThese amendments follow on from the third group of amendments which the House discussed earlier today. They are consistent with the amendments we made with regard to county councils. I commend the amendments to the House.
§ Mr. John FraserI was hoping that the amendments had a rather wider purpose. I understand that they require a local authority to obtain the consent of the Secretary of State to dispose of premises that are subject to a secure tenancy. Recently, my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Walton (Mr. Heffer), the hon. Member for Fulham (Mr. Stevens) and I received a deputation of tenants from Fulham court. I know Fulham court well from my youth because I used to babysit there for our local agent. Fulham court is a rather run-down block of council flats on the Fulham road, owned by Hammersmith borough council. We understood from the deputation we received—the views of the constituency member and the housing spokesman showed little difference—that the residents were worried that Hammersmith borough council intended to sell their block of flats to the private sector, although they had secure tenancies on those premises. They were worried about being sold down the river by their local authority.
I am sure that the Minister, for reasons of his own, objects to such sales. A sale of tenanted property from a local authority into the private sector means two features are lost. There is a loss because the status of the secure tenancy is converted to the status of a regulated tenancy. Because the tenants cease to be secure tenants, they cease also to have the right to buy—I point out that there is not as much agreement on that point. The tenants are most worried that they will be transferred from a landlord who has ample resources to maintain, repair and improve their premises, to a landlord who has no interest in taking those actions. The landlord may be anxious to transfer the tenants to other accommodation and to sell off the flats in Fulham court to the private sector. There have been rumours that Wandsworth borough council intended to take the same course. I ask the Minister to make a policy statement that he will not consent, except in exceptional circumstances, to the sale of premises like Fulham court into the private sector by a local authority, which would have the effect of defeating the rights of tenants as well as denying them access to public resources for the maintenance and management of their premises.
§ Mr. GowWith the leave of the House, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I shall respond to the hon. Member for Norwood (Mr. Fraser) and enlarge on the purpose of the amendment. Under section 104 of the Housing Act 1957, as amended by sections 91 and 92 of the 1980 Act, local authorities may not dispose of land held under general housing powers otherwise than under the right to buy or on a secure tenancy, except with the consent of my right hon. Friend.
In contrast, local authorities are generally free to dispose of land held other than under housing powers in any manner that they wish, provided that they do so for the best price that can reasonably be obtained. This means that where land is held under other than part V powers—the powers that govern general housing provision—a local authority which is so minded is effectively in a position to frustrate a tenant's application to exercise his right to buy. It can do so by disposing of its interest in his home over his head to a third party who is not a right to buy landlord. That was one of the possibilities in the mind of the hon. Gentleman.
611 The new clause will apply where a dwelling is held under non-part V powers and is let on a secure tenancy or under a right-to-buy lease. It will provide that local authorities may not dispose of their interest in such property without the consent of my right hon. Friend except where they do so under the right-to-buy provisions.
My right hon. Friend will have a power to make general consents in relation to such disposals, and special consents to meet individual circumstances. Where special individual cases arise, my right hon. Friend will consider each case on its merits. I have considerable sympathy with the views which the hon. Gentleman expressed.
§ Question put and agreed to.