HC Deb 12 January 1999 vol 323 cc90-1
2. Mr. Desmond Swayne (New Forest, West)

What estimate his Department has made of the impact on take-up rates of his decision to reduce the discounts to council tenants under the right-to-buy arrangements. [63566]

The Minister for Local Government and Housing (Ms Hilary Armstrong)

About 1 per cent. of council and housing association tenants exercise their right to buy each year. We estimate that about 90 per cent. of buyers will be unaffected by the changes to discounts, and of the rest—0.1 per cent. of social tenants—many will still be able to buy. We expect the percentage of social tenants buying their home to remain at about 1 per cent. each year.

Mr. Swayne

Do Ministers want to encourage tenants to aspire to own their own homes?

Ms Armstrong

Our commitment to home ownership is very clear. We want to ensure that anyone has a realistic chance and a sustainable opportunity to buy their own home. We also have a duty to the taxpayer to ensure that any programme that we introduce is value for money. The programme costs the taxpayer about £400 million a year. We think that we can get better value for money.

Ms Margaret Moran (Luton, South)

Is my hon. Friend aware of the recent report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, "Reviewing the Right to Buy", which raises some concerns about changes to right-to-buy discounts, especially the effects on social exclusion? It argues for a flat-rate purchase grant instead of discounts. Will she comment on its proposals?

Ms Armstrong

I am aware of that report, which we are considering—as part of the general consultation. We have received representations from around the country, including the local authority of the hon. Member for New Forest, West (Mr. Swayne), which fully supports our proposals. We will take into account all those representations, along with the work of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Mr. Simon Burns (West Chelmsford)

Does the Minister recall that her party has historically been opposed to the right to buy for council house tenants, and that it has been motivated by both ideology and spite? The measure to cut the discount by £12,000 in London and £38,000 in the north-east will be seen as nothing less than that. Does she accept that that will cause hardship to tenants hoping to buy their houses? Is she prepared to introduce transitional relief to lessen the impact of that attack on home ownership?

Ms Armstrong

Once again the hon. Gentleman gets his facts wrong. The Labour party did not oppose the principle of the right to buy—[Interruption.] We said that money should be invested in social housing to make sure that people in the rest of the country who needed houses could get them.

Mr. Burns

Stop digging.

Ms Armstrong

I am not digging. It is the hon. Gentleman who has dug deep and cannot get out. We are in favour of home ownership, but we are also in favour of people who rely on social tenancies having a decent choice. That is why we have allocated £5 billion to put right social housing, which the Conservative Government neglected. For the first time in the history of surveying, council housing conditions deteriorated under the previous Administration. We will put a stop to that.