Mr. Neubertasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether, in allocating the sum of £130 million, as provided by the Budget Statement, for the purchase of newly-built but as yet unsold housing estates, he will take into account the number of miscellaneous other private domestic properties purchased by the relevant local authority in the recent past before sanctioning further intervention in the housing market;
(2) whether he has yet established the criteria on which he will sanction the 323W purchase by local authorities of private housing estates as announced in the Budget Statement; and if he will list them.
§ Mr. FreesonThe new provision made in the Budget Statement for programmes of house building and acquisitions was of the order of £200 million. I shall be issuing a circular to local authorities shortly giving guidance as to the considerations they should have in mind in expanding their programmes.