Right to Buy

HC Deb 10 June 1991 vol 192 cc583-5

2. Mr. Andrew Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the Government's right-to-buy housing policy in Wales.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Nicholas Bennett)

Our right-to-buy policy has been extremely successful in Wales. During the past 10 years almost 88,000 new town and local authority dwellings have been sold. The percentage of owner-occupation in Wales has risen during that time from 62 to 71 per cent., which is the highest in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Mitchell

Given the truly excellent figures that have been provided by my hon. Friend, does he have any other plans to enhance choice and opportunity in the Welsh housing market—for example, by introducing concepts such as flexi-ownership and rents into mortgages? If he has, does he think that the Labour party will oppose those policies and finally reluctantly accept them, just as it did with the right to buy?

Mr. Bennett

As my hon. Friend may be aware, the Development Board for Rural Wales has introduced a flexi-ownership scheme that is centred at Newtown. Already about 3 per cent. of applicants have bought their homes under the new scheme. I believe that it is a worth while development of the right-to-buy scheme for those who do not have the income to be able to buy their houses outright. I only wish that I could share my hon. Friend's confidence that the Opposition believe in the right-to-buy policy. The record of Labour authorities throughout the country does not give one much hope for believing that if there were a Labour Government they would continue the policy.

Mr. Wigley

May I press the Minister on the provisions of the Housing Act 1988, which allow the tenants of council houses to be paid grants under the scheme administered by the Welsh Office to enable them to buy houses in the private sector, thereby allowing council houses to be let to those on the waiting list? As only one such scheme has worked in Wales so far, to the best of my knowledge, will the hon. Gentleman say whether the Welsh Office supports the scheme? Is he optimistic that more authorities will take advantage of it?

Mr. Bennett

We certainly support the scheme and the one to which the hon. Gentleman referred is being evaluated. I hope that as a result of the evaluation we can amend the scheme, if necessary, to ensure that all local authorities in Wales may take part in it.

Mr. Gwilym Jones

According to a parliamentary answer that my hon. Friend gave on Friday, the council with the worst record for processing right-to-buy applications is, I am sorry to say, Cardiff city council, which has control in my constituency. On 31 March, 2,263 applications were outstanding, which was almost 30 per cent. of the all-Wales total. May I encourage my hon. Friend to take any action that will enable me to reassure my constituents that the delay is not the deliberate action of the city council and that it is providing sufficient resources to enable right-to-buy applications to be processed in decent time?

Mr. Bennett

I am concerned that some councils throughout Wales have a large backlog of properties waiting to be processed for sale. If my hon. Friend or any member of the public can refer to an applicant who has waited for an excessively long period to be told that he can purchase his property, I shall be happy to take up the case with the relevant local authority.

Mr. Murphy

As many thousands of families in Wales cannot afford mortgages for private houses, as the Government have almost stopped Welsh councils building new houses and as housing associations cannot cope with the level of demand, is the only advice that the Minister has for a young Welsh couple seeking a home to suggest that they go for flexi-ownership, or whatever he calls it?

Mr. Bennett

No, it is not. In addition to the generous support that we are giving to Tai Cymru in the coming year—I am looking forward to 3,300 properties being, built during the year—we have, in the past few days, given nearly £1 million towards helping authorities bring back into use, for instance, flats above shops and offices. The Welsh Office is promoting a wide range of policies which will be put together in "Housing: Agenda for Action" which I am producing as a personal initiative next month.