HC Deb 31 October 1988 vol 139 cc655-7
12. Mr. Wigley

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received from district councils in Wales concerning the problems facing first-time home-seekers.

Mr. Grist

A number of local authorities have made representations on this issue. I believe that Housing for Wales will play an important role in tackling the problems of first-time home-seekers.

Mr. Wigley

Is the Minister aware that house prices in many parts of Wales, including Caernarfon, have doubled this year, making it almost impossible for many young people wishing to buy a house for the first time to hope to compete in that market? Is the Minister further aware that a price of £60,000 may be cheap for somebody who has sold a house for £250,000 in the south-east of England, but that it is far out of the reach of average wage earners in areas such as Gwynedd? When will the Welsh Office intervene in a constructive and positive manner to ensure that such people have some hope of being able to own or rent a house in the foreseeable future?

Mr. Grist

The hon. Gentleman must accept that a rise in house prices is common throughout the United Kingdom. He will also know that councils in his area have been allocated funds with which to buy houses for renting or for sale to local people, but have not spent some of that money as yet. They seem to be holding on to it for some reason. Housing for Wales will encourage local authorities, in co-operation with private funding, to go into the business of low-cost housing for those who wish to enter the housing market. That is the area in which we expect activity to take place.

Sir Anthony Meyer

Although the hon. Member for Caernarfon (Mr. Wigley) has raised a real problem, is there not another side to the medal? Many hundreds of thousands of home owners in Wales are now far better off than they have been for a long time.

Mr. Grist

I agree absolutely with my hon. Friend. He has put his finger on an important matter. Sixty-eight per cent. of people in Wales are home owners, which is a higher proportion than in England. That represents a tremendous capital saving for the people of Wales. Suggestions that property prices should be lower might imply that some people want those who own houses to sell them for a lower price than they would otherwise get.

Mr. Rogers

I assure the Minister that the Opposition understand the great difficulty of his task of providing housing in Wales. We consider it important for him to receive advice from as wide a range of sources as possible. Will he therefore explain why two gentlemen, Mr. John Allen and Colonel Geoffrey Inkin, have between them been vice chairmen of the Land Authority, chairman of the Land Authority, chairman of the Housing for Wales, chairman of Cwmbran development corporation, chairman of Cardiff Bay development corporation, and ex-vice chairman of Cwmbran district council? Why does the Minister not obtain advice from all over Wales, rather than adopt such an incestuous relationship with failed Tory party candidates and Tory placemen?

Mr. Grist

I suppose that the hon. Gentleman would prefer us to talk to Labour-controlled local authorities, which have managed to sit tight over the years with houses that have rotted and which have failed to provide the houses for which the hon. Gentleman now calls. I am sorry that he has attacked such distinguished gentlemen, who are highly acceptable to those with whom they deal, and, I imagine, respected by his hon. Friends on the Front Bench.

Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop

We have in Devon exactly the same problem of people on low incomes needing houses, but no special provision of this kind to enable the housing to be provided. Will my hon. Friend please arrange for the surplus funds which Welsh local authorities do not apparently want to spend to be transferred to district councils in Devon, which could put them to very good use indeed?

Mr. Grist

I think that my hon. Friend can fight his own battles with his own Secretary of State.

Mr. Flynn

Does the Minister agree that the problem of first-time home seekers in Wales is formidable and represents a great mountain of human misery? There are three separate problems: those affected by cheque-book colonisation in the form of holiday homes, which now affects every part of Wales; rocketing prices, which have pushed homes out of the reach of many first-time buyers; and the slashing of council house building, which has cut choice for many of those in the greatest need. There are three crises and three problems. What are the Minister's three solutions?

Mr. Grist

We have a record build of private housing at the moment—more than 8,000 houses, which is the largest number since 1973. Furthermore, we expect housing associations to start 2,300 houses this year through the Housing Corporation. That is the sort of practical contribution that we are making.