§ Mr. Greg Knightasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what alternative sources of independent valuation are available to a tenant where a local authority bases its valuation of a property, which is to be purchased by a tenant under the right-to-buy provisions of the Housing Act 1980, upon a figure obtained by or with the help or assistance of the district valuer where the tenant disputes the sum quoted when the district valuer, to whom the tenant would normally look, has already been involved on behalf of the landlord.
Mr. GowWhere a tenant disputes the valuation given by his landlord in a notice served under section 10 of the 1980 Housing Act, he may under section 11 of that Act require the value to be determined by the district valuer. In Norwich city council v The Secretary of State for the Environment—[1982] 1 All E R 737 — the Court of Appeal held that a section 11 determination is not prejudiced by earlier involvement of the district valuer's staff in the section 10 valuation. Arrangements have been made so that any section 11 determination is undertaken by a senior officer who has not been involved in giving advice prior to the issue of the section 10 Notice.
§ Mr. Greg Knightasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities, for whatever reason, use the services of the district valuer or his staff in order to value property where a tenant has exercised his right to buy under the provisions of the Housing Act 1980; and if he will publish a list of such local authorities.
Mr. GowApproximately 250 local authorities in England and Wales use the services of the district valuer to carry out initial valuations for the purposes of section 10 of the Housing Act 1980. A list of these authorities is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.