Local Authority Vacant Houses (Hansard, 1 April 1981)

§ Lord Gainford
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Bellwin)
My Lords, the Government have frequently exhorted local authorities to reduce the number of vacant dwellings and have encouraged authorities to improve, sell and short-let such property.

§ Lord Gainford
My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for that reply and may I ask him, first, what plans Her Majesty's Government have to encourage the sale of vacant dwellings? Secondly, as this is 1st April 1981, and the 30-year rule now comes to an end, may I ask how much this will facilitate Her Majesty's Government's plans for housing and dwellings?

§ Lord Bellwin
My Lords, so far as the encouragement of the sale of vacant dwellings is concerned, authorities have been empowered to sell vacant dwellings in their present condition at discounts of up to 30 per cent., and if any of your Lordships are interested in knowing more of the details of that, information is available in paragraph 8.2 of the general consent dated 1st September 1980. Authorities can apply to the Secretary of State under Section 110 of the Housing Act 1980 for consent to waive the interest payments on mortgages for up to five years on houses and flats being sold for homesteading, and again details of this are set out in paragraphs 25 to 28 of the DoE Circular 20/80.
As regards the new date for the abolition of what we referred to as the 30-year rule, perhaps I should say that under the Housing Act 1980 authorities can improve dwellings for sale with the aid of an Exchequer grant of up to £3,250 per dwelling and as from today, 1st April, the 30-year rule is being abolished, thus enabling housing subsidy to be paid on both improvement and capitalised repair expenditure on dwellings which are less than 30 years old.

§ Lord Mishcon
My Lords, does the noble Lord the Minister not agree that verbal encouragement to local authorities is scarcely of use when one faces a moratorium and a cut in finance which does not enable those authorities to repair some of the empty houses and therefore let them? Furthermore, does he agree 196 that making houses available for sale is not a very comforting way to deal with the pressing local authority housing lists, on which are people who are in need and who cannot afford to buy?

§ Lord Bellwin
My Lords, I thought that what I had said was rather more than just verbal encouragement. If the noble Lord will refer to the booklet which I mentioned when answering a similar question earlier this week, and which is now in the Library, I think he will be interested to see set out what the Government are doing, which is more than simply giving verbal encouragement. As to the point on the moratorium, I only have to say again that £2.2 billion of subsidy is given to housing and it is vital that that be not exceeded, and all the moratorium seeks to do is to ensure that this is so.

§ Lord Leatherland
My Lords, is the noble Lord aware of the fact that many millions of people will be interested in what he has said, but can he explain for their benefit the interpretation that he puts on the word "homesteading" which he used?

§ Lord Bellwin
My Lords, in very brief terms homesteading refers to accommodation which is vacant and often in very poor condition which people move into and repair themselves. The Government are anxious to encourage this to be done, so as to reduce the number of houses which are vacant and to help those who need accommodation.

Lord Wallace of Coslany
My Lords, in view of the very important debate last night on the Unstarred Question on the after-care of the mentally sick, will the noble Lord and the Government draw the attention of local authorities to the fact that some of these properties would be a godsend in providing accommodation for those needing after-care? I understand that some 20,000 could be accommodated.

§ Lord Bellwin
My Lords, I hope that all authorities are alert to this kind of situation and that they do indeed look to what they do with the vacant accommodation that they have within their jurisdiction.

§ Lord Mishcon
My Lords, I wonder whether the noble Lord the Minister will forgive me if I come back to the question of repairs, which is a vital matter in connection with these empty houses that we are dealing with. Can he not consider making some priority grants in order to enable repairs to be carried out, having regard to the housing crisis that exists in many parts of the country—although other areas may have surpluses—and would he not regard that, even on the basis of a once-for-all grant, as something which is worth while to deal with this problem?

§ Lord Bellwin
My Lords, it is still for each authority itself, within its own existing situation, to look after its own repairs, and so long as it does not exceed the sums given to it then of course it can do this kind of work. But if we are speaking of supplementing the monies available to an authority to carry out repairs beyond any moratorium or anything else, there is 197 always the money which they receive from the sale of houses, 50 per cent. of which they can use as they wish.