§ Sir John Biggs-Davisonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether, in order to expedite the sale of Northern Ireland Housing Executive houses, his Department and the executive will study the system of financial incentives offered by the Epping Forest district council to its specialist staff engaged on the sale of council houses.
§ Mr. David MitchellI am anxious that all reasonable steps should be taken to expedite house sales by the Housing Executive. Over 30,000 applications to purchase have been received since October 1979 and the executive has been encouraged to devote as much of its available staff to this work as its other responsibilities will allow. I am pleased that the executive is currently completing about 120 sales per week. I am grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing the Epping Forest district council scheme to my attention, but I think that it may not be appropriate for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive at this time, though I will bear it in mind.