HC Deb 28 February 1978 vol 945 cc129-30W
Mr. Stephen Ross

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment why certain local housing authorities which wish to sell council houses to sitting tenants at a discount of 30 per cent. are permitted to do so whereas others are restricted, due to local authority boundary changes, to schemes permitting a maximum discount of 25 per cent. or less.

Mr. Freeson

Under general ministerial consents all local authorities in England may sell or lease council houses at discounts of up to 20 per cent. Additionally, before 1974, under the previous Government, some local authorities received special consents, which are still in force, to sell or lease at discounts of up to 30 per cent. Following local authority reorganisation, the special consents given to authorities outside London remain available to their successors. But it is for those successor authorities to consider—in the light of Section 254 of the Local Government Act 1972—for which of their intended disposals the consent for discounts of up to 30 per cent. is available. It is not the Government's general policy to grant new consents for discounts of more than 20 per cent. In particular, such consents would not be granted to authorities simply on the ground that some of their predecessor authorities had special con- sent for the higher discounts and some did not.