§ Mr. Spriggsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment which local authorities are, or have been, selling council houses to tenants; what is the actual cost of building a two- and three-bedroomed council house, respectively, at the present time; what is the market value of each type of house sold to tenants; and how the value is assessed.
§ Mr. ArmstrongThe identity of local authorities which have sold council dwellings in recent years, together with the numbers of dwellings which they have sold, has been published in "Local Housing Statistics". Issue 41 gives information for 1976, and a table of sales in 1977 has been placed in the Library. It is not known how many of the houses, other than those built for sale, were sold to sitting tenants.
The actual cost of providing a council dwelling will vary according to local circumstances and the nature of the site, but the average cost of such dwellings completed in England during 1977 was about £13,000. During 1977, the average price for which council dwellings—excluding those built for sale—were sold was £7,200; this figure reflected an average discount of £1,150, or 16 per cent., from the unrestricted current market value with vacant possession. Figures are not available for particular types of dwelling.
It is for local authorities to assess the market value of houses which they sell. They rely on appropriate professional 211W advice as to the vacant possession value and in many cases the advice of the district valuer.