HC Deb 13 June 1984 vol 61 cc909-10
14. Mr. Dubs

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received about the sale of council homes and flats other than to sitting tenants.

Sir George Young

My hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Construction has received recent representations from councillors in the hon. Member's constituency. It is for local authorities to decide whether to sell vacant dwellings.

Mr. Dubs

When will the Minister understand that his encouragement of the policies of local authorities such as Wandsworth council in selling council houses and flats to people not on the waiting list and to people not in urgent need is deeply offensive to the thousands of badly housed people in my area and elsewhere in the country, and is saying to those people, "There is no hope of decent housing for you in your lifetime."? Is it not time that we had a change of policy, starting with the Minister?

Sir George Young

The important thing is to ensure that empty houses are put to proper use. I understand that Wandsworth council gives some priority to council tenants under partnership or improvement for sale schemes in instances such as the ones that the hon. Member describes. Wandsworth council has raised £37 million in the last four and a half years by its policy of selling council houses, and this has enabled it to make faster progress with modernising its old stock and allocating improvement grants than would otherwise have been the case. That is why the policy that Wandsworth council is following makes sense.

Mr. Chope

Will my hon. Friend arrange for the details of the Wandsworth success story to be distributed to councils throughout the country, because a large number of council tenants who occupy flats and houses wish to buy houses and flats other than those that they occupy, and Wandsworth council has had a success story in satisfying their needs in excess of almost any other local authority in the country?

Sir George Young

My hon. Friend has done more than the Government could do in advertising the success of Wandsworth council and in promoting those policies for other local authorities which face similar problems.

Mr. Loyden

Does the hon. Gentleman not agree that the sale of council houses means that the better houses are sold off, leaving the substandard accommodation for council tenants? Is he not aware that, as a result of the no-build programme, those seeking rented accommodation in the public sector have to wait for years before they are accommodated?

Sir George Young

All the evidence is that those who buy their council houses in the circumstances described by the hon. Gentleman would not move anyway, and so those properties would not become available to those on the waiting list. On the other hand, the council has the benefit of the capital receipts, which it can then use to make faster progress with those who are on the the waiting list.

Mr. Michael Forsyth

Does my hon. Friend accept that the number of flats owned by Labour councils that remain vacant for a long time is a disgrace? Do Opposition Members not realise that many flats are impossible to let, although people are willing to buy them? We should congratulate those authorities which are selling them.

Sir George Young

My hon. Friend is quite right. No one benefits if local authority stock is simply left vacant. I urge those local authorities involved, which are mainly Labour-controlled, to look at schemes such as homesteading and improvement for sale, to ensure that that stock is put into good use and that some receipts accrue to the local authority.