§ Mr. Stanleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment by what statutory authority his determination is necessary to enable subsidy to be paid on the rented half of dwellings sold in half-and-half schemes; and whether his determination once given to a local authority then applies to all subsequent half-and-half sales by that authority.
§ Mr. ArmstrongMy right hon. Friend has made a general determination, under paragraph 8 of Schedule 1 to the Housing Rents and Subsidies Act 1975, that, when a local authority dispose of any of its housing revenue account dwellings on a long lease, its housing subsidy is reduced by an appropriate amount in respect of those dwellings. But if only half the equity in a dwelling is disposed of in this way, the normal rule is varied to enable the authority to keep half the relevant subsidy. There is no general rule on such shared equity schemes because local authority practices vary and each scheme is therefore dealt with individually.