§ Mr. Stanleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment to which local authorities he has given approval for half-and-half schemes stating in each case the total number of houses to be constructed and the number sold on a half-and-half basis to date.
§ Mr. FreesonMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is not required to approve half-and-half mortgage schemes as such, but his determination is needed to enable subsidy to be paid on the 227W "rented half" and his consent is necessary for the disposal of the dwellings; though existing general consents mean that special applications for this consent are rarely required. A number of local authorities are known to be interested in operating such schemes, and two at any rate have embarked on them.
There is one development for 139 dwellings by Birmingham City Council and 103 of these are reported as having been disposed of under their half-and-half scheme. A second development for 152 dwellings is under construction by the GLC at Cheshunt and I understand that 21 dwellings in this development have so far been disposed of under the half-and-half scheme. A third scheme has been proposed by the London Borough of Brent, involving an unspecified number of municipalised and modernised existing dwellings.