§ 14. Miss Boothroydasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will meet the chairman and vice-chairman of the housing committee of Sandwell metropolitan district council to discuss the regulations relating to the right to buy.
§ Sir George YoungAs I said in my letter of 15 February, I do not believe that a meeting would be useful on the particular point that the hon. Member put to me on behalf of Sandwell borough council. If there are other aspects of the right to buy that the council wishes to discuss, I shall, of course, be ready to consider the case for a meeting.
§ Miss BoothroydWhy does the Minister display such a lack of understanding? Is he not concerned that Sandwell council—and no doubt many other local authorities—is losing £60,000 on the sale of something like 10 council houses? How can he justify the daylight robbery of local ratepayers and the waste of public money when he would never expect the private sector to build houses and then sell them at half the cost of their construction? Why does he expect the council to do it?
§ Sir George YoungOne can justify it by looking at the other side of the coin. In Sandwell, nine houses were sold at a historic loss, but 2,362 were sold at a profit. Therefore, if one looks at the overall position one sees that Sandwell ratepayers have done well out of the right to buy.