§ Mr. Stanleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment which councils are now selling council houses to sitting tenants on a 50:50, or part ownership and part rent, basis; and whether his consent is required for sales on such a basis.
§ Mr. FreesonUp to the end of 1977, the latest period for which figures are available, no local authority had reported operating a shared equity scheme for sitting tenants. The 11 schemes I mentioned in my answer to the hon. Member's Question on 19th January—[Vol. 942, c.350.]—involved dwellings built for new tenants/owners.
A requirement for my right hon. Friend's consent to a scheme for sitting tenants might arise under Section 104 of 328W the Housing Act 1957 and/or Section 26 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1959, though there is a general consent for the purposes of these provisions in Appendix 1 of Circular 54/70. Any local authority contemplating a scheme of this nature would have to satisfy itself whether or not it needed ministerial consent in that particular case.