§ Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many valuations of council houses were undertaken for purposes of sale under the Housing Act 1980 in the period 3 October 1980 to 3 April 1981;
(2) how many additional staff have been hired by local authorities to process applications under the Housing Act 1980 right-to-buy procedure; and what is the estimated cost.
§ Mr. StanleyThis information is not available.
§ Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any plans to intervene to reduce the purchase price of council houses in cases where local authorities have refused to process applications submited by tenants during the six-month period from 3 October 1980.
§ Mr. StanleyNo, because chapter 1 of part 1 of the Housing Act 1980 provides that where a tenant has served a valid notice by 3 April 1981 claiming to exercise the right to buy the dwelling shall be valued as at 8 August 1980 regardless of the length of time taken to complete the purchase.
§ Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends to take any action in the case of local authorities which over the six-month period from 3 October 1980 have refused to process applications for house purchase by tenants.
§ Mr. StanleyI refer the hon. Member to the statement that I made today.
§ Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local councils were not selling council homes prior to the implementation of the Housing Act 1980 in October 1980.
§ Mr. StanleyAbout 120 local housing authorities in Great Britain reported no sales to sitting tenants in the period from January to September 1980.
§ Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many council house sales have been completed under the Housing Act 1980 right-to-buy procedure in the period since 3 October 1980 to the latest date for which figures are available;
(2) how many applications to purchase council houses had been filed with local authorities under the Housing Act 1980's right-to-buy procedure in the first six months of its operation;
(3) how many flats have been sold under the Housing Act 1980 right-to-buy procedure; and what percentage of total sales this constitutes.
§ Mr. StanleyI shall answer these questions shortly.
§ Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many right-to-buy forms have been distributed since the Housing Act 1980 came into operation; and how many of these were distributed by local councils and how many directly from his Department.
§ Mr. StanleyUp to 10 April 1981 almost 1,000,000 right-to-buy claim forms had been distributed by the 203W Department, mainly to local councils. In addition, some 63,000 forms were sent to individual tenants who had requested them by completing the coupons placed in national newspapers last October.
It is not known how many claim forms have been distributed by local councils.
§ Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the cost to date of Government publicity and advertisements concerning the Housing Act 1980 right-to-buy procedure.
§ Mr. John StanleyTotal expenditure to date by the Central Office of Information on publicity for the Housing Act right-to-buy procedure is £702,400.
§ Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many council houses he expects to be purchased under the right-to-buy procedures of the Housing Act 1980 in the year beginning 3 October 1980; and if he is satisfied with the present rate of sales.
§ Mr. StanleyFor public expenditure purposes it has been assumed that there will be 120,000 right-to-buy and voluntary sales in England in the financial year 1981–82.
§ Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average selling price of council homes sold under the Housing Act 1980; and what was the average discount given to buyers under this scheme in the six-month period since 3 October 1980.
§ Mr. StanleyThe information available, relating to all sales of council dwellings in the period October to December 1980, is as follows:
Council house disposals (excluding shared ownership) England and Wales—October-December 1980 Average selling price net of discounts £ Built for sale 15,400(P) Existing dwellings 8,600(P) Average discount on all sales by local authorities in England—including both existing dwellings and new build—was 40 per cent.(P) for this quarter. (P) Provisional.
§ Mr. David Huntasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, in view of the fact that the borough council of Ellesmere Port and Neston has received 1,517 requests from council house tenants claiming their right to buy and that to date no offer has been made to any tenant, he will use his powers under section 23 of the Housing Act 1980; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. StanleyI am ready to consider any evidence my hon. Friend puts to me about progress with the right to buy in Ellesmere Port and Neston. As to the use of my right hon. Friend's powers under section 23 of the Housing Act 1980, I refer my hon. Friend to the statement I made to the House today.