§ Mr. Heddleasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made by local authorities in carrying out improvement for sale under the Housing Act 1980.
§ Mr. StanleyOver 90 local authorities have used the improvement for sale scheme brought in by the 1980 Housing Act and a total of 340 dwellings had been sold 143W up to 31 December 1982. A further 1,745 dwellings had been improved for sale by Housing Associations up to the end of December.
I am publishing today a report "Improvement for Sale by Local Authorities" which analyses in detail a sample of nearly 200 dwellings in improvement for sale schemes carried out by 54 authorities.
The report shows that 50 per cent. of the local authorities gave priority to purchasers who were council tenants or on the waiting list, thus helping to reduce the pressure on rented accommodation, and that the average Exchequer contribution received was only £3,240, compared with a maximum potential contribution of £6,500 in London and £4,875 elsewhere.
The report shows the large role played in IFS by the private sector both in financing the sales and undertaking improvement works. Seventy-seven per cent. of mortgages are provided by building societies. Private contractors are employed in 87 per cent. of cases to undertake the improvment works.
Copies of the report "Improvement for Sale by Local Authorities" are being sent to local authorities and copies are being placed in the Libraries of both Houses.