HL Deb 28 June 1977 vol 384 cc1031-5

4 p.m.

Lord STRABOLGI

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I will now repeat a Statement being made in another place by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Scotland. The Statement is as follows:

"I wish to make a Statement on the consultative document on Scottish Housing which is being made available today. This Green Paper is complementary to that which my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Environment has just announced for England and Wales. It is the outcome of a comprehensive review of housing in Scotland. It draws together the several developments on which we have been engaged over the past two years and further proposals which add up to a strategy appropriate to Scotland's housing needs.

"The Paper describes the great progress made in overcoming housing shortages in Scotland, particularly by the local housing authorities. But it also stresses the continued housing needs, with new problems arising as the old ones are solved. Too many people are still living in inadequate houses and depressing environments. We must take more account of people with special needs—the elderly and the disabled, for example, and single people of all ages. We must also give people better opportunities of obtaining the kind of house they want—whether they rent or buy.

"In consultation with the Scottish local authorities we have agreed arrangements for housing authorities to devise strategies based on local needs. Accordingly, all authorities will be submitting their first Housing Plans ' to me this summer to cover the five years beginning 1978–79. These plans take account of the whole range of housing needs, including the private sector. In parallel, we have been discussing a new single housing subsidy for local authorities. The Government will continue to give substantial financial support for authorities' housing expenditure. But I intend to distribute this support in a way which will reflect fairly the differing burdens in different areas. The new arrangements shall begin to operate in 1979. They will provide a better and fairer subsidy system. The level of assistance I have in mind will enable the local contribution to housing costs (rents and rate fund contributions) to keep broadly in line with changes in money incomes.

"As well as continuing support for the public sector, the Government want to ensure that the growing demand for home ownership can reasonably be met. To this end, the special measures to help first-time buyers announced by my right honourable friend—the Savings Bonus and Loans Scheme—will apply equally in Scotland. They will help many young people acquire their first homes. But for some people alternative forms of tenure are what they want—equity schemes, tenant cooperatives and so on. We will encourage more of these established to meet the demand for a wider choice of tenures.

"For the vast number of people for whom renting a public sector house is the most appropriate tenure, we shall be exploring with the local authorities the development of a model agreement for tenants so that the responsibilities of both tenant and the authority are clearly set out. Public sector tenants should be secure in their homes and they should not have to suffer outmoded and irritating restrictions. But they should also be able to take on more responsibility, if they wish, for the management and maintenance of their home.

"I hope that honourable Members and all interested housing organisations will now study the Paper closely and let us have constructive reactions. On the policy foundations we have already been laying, the outcome should be a coherent and responsive strategy to meet the housing needs of the people of Scotland. Our aim remains 'a decent house for every family at a price it can afford '."

My Lords, that concludes the Statement.

4.5 p.m.

Lord CAMPBELL of CROY

My Lords, I am sure the House is grateful to the noble Lord for having repeated the Statement being made in another place. It is welcome, certainly to these Benches, to hear that the Government are declaring that they now recognise the demand in Scotland for home ownership. In the past, Labour Ministers at the Scottish Office and some local authorities in Scotland have taken little account of that, though it has been recognised South of the Border; and there is considerably less home ownership in Scotland in proportion to the population than there is in England and Wales.

I should like to ask the noble Lord two questions. The first one, which I recognise may not be easy for him to answer on behalf of his Scottish Office colleagues, is this: In these circumstances, will the Secretary of State for Scotland relax his present restrictive attitude in granting permission to local authorities to sell council houses in appropriate conditions, where everyone is likely to benefit, including those on housing application lists? At present, the Government have made it clear that they frown on the sale of council houses in Scotland.

The second question is this. The noble Lord made no direct reference to housing associations, although I realise there may be something about them in the Paper. Do the Government visualise a larger role for housing associations in Scotland over the provision of new and better housing?

4.7 p.m.

Lord STRABOLGI

My Lords, I am grateful for what the noble Lord, Lord Campbell of Croy, has said about the Statement. He asked me two questions. One concerned the demand for home ownership. The conclusions in favour of supporting in various ways the development of home ownership in Scotland are not, of course, based on any dogma that this is the "right" or the "natural" form of tenure. It is based essentially on the recognition that this is what an increasing number of Scots people, especially the younger ones, want. We acknowledge the sense in providing for choice in housing to suit the wide variation in what people are prepared to pay at different stages of their lives.

The noble Lord also asked me about council house sales. The sale of council houses is not a free-standing issue. The decisions are to be made essentially against a local background. We are not encouraging wholesale selling, but we are not against sales. What we demand is that the scheme should be carefully worked out as part of each local authority's housing plan. It is still necessary to ensure an adequate supply of houses for rent, and that it is not all the better houses which are sold or those all of the same type or all in particular areas. It should be seen essentially as a means of meeting a part of the need for home ownership and should represent no more than a modest shift of part of the rented stock into home ownership". That would not have a distorting effect, we believe, on the provision of an adequate supply on rented housing, particularly in the Scottish situation where over half the houses are rented from public authorities, as against only one-third in England and Wales.

Thirdly, my Lords, the noble Lord asked about housing associations. These are discussed in the Green Paper and, of course, they will play an important continuing role. There are options put forward for revision of arrangements for housing association grants. I hope I have answered the various constructive questions asked by the noble Lord.