§ 17. Mr. Hendersonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many public sector tenants in Scotland have made inquiries about buying their homes; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RifkindWell over 20,000. Even this by no means represents the total number of tenants who are interested in buying: several of those authorities who have decided to await legislation before commencing sales have publicised their unwillingnessto deal with inquiries in the interim, and in other areas where sales are not proceeding at present or are only doing so on a basis which is less generous than the general consent allows, tenants are likely to be holding back. There is, in any case, no doubt whatever that our sales policy has been greeted with enthusiasm by tenants throughout Scotland.
232W
§ 22. Mr. O'Neillasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what communications he has had with local authorities in Scotland about the provision of finance to assist in the sale of council houses.
§ Mr. RifkindI have kept in close contact with COSLA on all aspects of our policy on sales of local authority houses. In August this year local authorities received capital expenditure consent to enable them to provide mortgages of up to 100 per cent. to all of their tenants who wished to buy their homes and who were unable to obtain private finance. There will be no net increase in public expenditure as a result of this consent.