§ Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) whether he has received any requests from the tenants of the Ministry of Defence houses in Throsk village, Stirlingshire, to purchase their house from the Ministry of Defence; and, if so, how many such requests he has received and what response his Department has given;
(2) how many of the Ministry of Defence houses in Throsk village, Stirlingshire, are lying vacant; and how long that each house has been vacant;
(3) how many of the Ministry of Defence houses in Throsk village, Stirlingshire, have been recently modernised; what was the total cost of the modernisation; and whether any of the modernised houses are at present lying vacant;
(4) how many houses his Department owns in Throsk village, Stirlingshire; what size the houses are; and what is their toal estimated value;
(5) what price his Department would be willing to accept for the sale of the Ministry of Defence houses in Throsk village, Stirlingshire, to the Stirling District Council.
§ Mr. Marks,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 9th March 1978; Vol. 162W 945, c. 766], gave the following information:
The situation regarding the Ministry of Defence houses in Throsk village is as follows. The MOD owns 65 houses in the village. One has six apartments, six have five apartments, 57 have four apartments, and one has three apartments.
Twenty-two of the houses have been modernised recently at a total cost of £17,600. None of these is vacant at present. Of the remaining houses, four are unoccupied. One has been so for 27 weeks, one for 17 weeks, one for seven weeks and one for six days.
All of the 65 houses have been offered to Stirling District Council. If it decides to acquire the purchase price will be assessed by the district valuer after giving both parties to the sale an opportunity to make representations. However, it is not the practice to disclose details of commercial transactions.
Twenty-one tenants have indicated an interest in purchasing the houses they occupy. They have been told that the properties are on offer to Stirling District Council but that their interest will be considered if the council does not acquire.