§ Mr. Tebbitasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the present precentage of home ownership in the area of the former London County Council; and what proposals he has for increasing that proportion.
§ Mr. AmeryRecent information is available only for London as a whole, where 45.5 per cent. of dwellings are owner occupied.
The steps which the Government has taken to encourage home ownership generally are set out in paragraph 18 of the White Paper—Fair Deal for Housing.
§ Mr. Tebbitasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what research has been undertaken by his Department into the number of present local authority tenants who are able to afford home ownership; and what have been the findings of that research.
§ Mr. AmeryIt has been estimated that there are about 400,000 householders in local authority dwellings with incomes sufficient to repay a mortgage advance on an inter-war semi-detached house in the region where they live. Since it is not possible to estimate how many tenants have savings which might reduce the amount required on mortgage, or on the other hand what other commitments they have to meet out of income, any such70W estimate must be regarded as very tentative. It is also estimated that in recent years some 50,000 local authority tenants a year have become owner-occupiers.