Finance Act 1981 (c.35) (Hansard, 29 April 1996)

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this, it will be convenient to discuss also Government amendments Nos. 134 to 138.

§ Mr. Curry
This is a mixed group of amendments on various issues relating to the housing corporations and the new registered social landlords. Amendment No. 33 extends the provisions of section 107 of the Finance Act 1981 to registered social landlords. I would draw hon. Members' attention in particular to subsection (5), which ensures that tenants buying their home under the new right to acquire will pay stamp duty only on the discounted price, rather than on the full market value. That is in line with the existing right to buy.
Amendments Nos. 134 and 135 will enable the Audit Commission to provide specialist advice to the Housing Corporation on audit matters. The current provisions in the Bill give the corporations power to sell their loans to the private sector, but they contain possible ambiguities. Amendment No. 136 puts the responsibility for the sale on the Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Wales, and provides them with a power to direct the corporations to sell their loans on terms which they approve. Amendment No. 137 provides a similar power for the Secretary of State for Scotland in relation to Scottish Homes' loans. That puts the sale of the portfolios on to a secure legal footing.
Amendment No. 138 would repeal the scheme known as home ownership for tenants of charitable housing associations, HOTCHA for short, which has now been superseded by the tenants incentive scheme and the do-it-yourself shared ownership scheme. The purchase grant scheme will also allow tenants to buy their homes at a discount.

§ Mr. Raynsford
Do the terms of amendment No. 33, which exempts tenants from payment of stamp duty on the full price of properties sold to them under the right to buy, also extend to the voluntary purchase grant? From my reading of the amendment, I assume that it does, but I would welcome some clarification from the Minister.

§ Mr. Curry
The answer is yes.

§ Mr. Raynsford
I am grateful to the Minister. Amendment No. 134 refers to consultancy services of the Audit Commission offered to the Housing Corporation. I would be most grateful for some suggestion from the Minister as to which services he envisages the Audit Commission offering and in what circumstances. The Minister elegantly explained the purpose of amendment No. 138, and I am surprised that he did not introduce it as the "gotcha HOTCHAs" amendment.

§ Mrs. Maddock
I should like to comment on amendment No. 136, which gives the Secretary of State another power. On numerous occasions in Committee, I 829 expressed my view about giving too many powers to individual people. Some of us have a sneaking suspicion that the amendment may be one route by which the Government will try to find some money for their tax cuts before the general election. I do not know whether the Minister would care to comment on when he will demand that the Housing Corporation should sell off its portfolio.

§ Mr. Curry
If the hon. Member for Greenwich will permit me, I will write to him with details of the sort of matters about which the Audit Commission might wish to give assistance to the Housing Corporation. We are in the business of appointing specialist advisers on the loan portfolios, and, of course, our actions would follow the advice given to us in those circumstances. The timetable is determined by the nature of the advice that we give and the practicality of the proposition.