§ Mr. Rossiasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether he is satisfied with the procedures for processing applications by housing associations to acquire properties; and if he will make a statement;
(2) how many transactions involving the acquisition of property by housing associations are at present before his Department; and what is the average time for giving a decision in such cases;
(3) if there have been any recent changes in his policy regarding acquisitions of property by housing associations; and if he will give the numbers of approvals and refusals for loan sanction for these purposes over each of the last nine months.
§ Mr. FreesonI maintain a close watch on the procedures, which were introduced earlier this year. Applications cover schemes of various sizes, and details of the numbers of transactions could be misleading and are not readily available. The time taken to deal with applications also varies widely. There has been a sharp increase in applications and approvals, and I am considering the implications of this on the level of public expenditure for which the Government have budgeted. Meanwhile, new building cases in stress areas are being favoured, as are improvement cases; and it will remain the Government's policy to encourage a high level of housing association activity.