HC Deb 08 December 1982 vol 33 cc549-51W
30. Mr. Heddle

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has to ensure that local authorities do not obstruct tenants who wish to exercise the right to buy.

Mr. Stanley

The Housing and Building Control Bill contains a number of such measures. These include new protection for tenants against the unreasonable use of completion notices by landlords; protection for purchasers of houses under the right to buy against unreasonable service charges; a power for the Secretary of State to require information from landlords to help him to decide whether or not to intervene under section 23; and measure to stop tenants being deprived of their right to buy as a condition of being granted an exchange.

36. Mr. Newens

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to the number of former council house tenants who have entered into arrangements to buy their homes and who have failed to keep up the necessary mortgage repayments owing to unemployment, breakdown of marriage, ill-health and other causes.

Mr. Stanley

Information on mortgage arrears attributable solely to former council tenants who have purchased their homes, and the causes of those arrears, is not available.

53. Mr. Robert Atkins

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is satisfied with the rate of sale of council housing.

Mr. Stanley

My right hon. Friend is generally satisfied with progress. It is estimated that between April 1979 and the end of September 1982 over 400,000 public sector dwellings were sold in Great Britain, and sales are continuing at a significant rate.

56. Mr. Andrew F. Bennett

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people who have exercised their right to buy their council house have subsequently been unable to pay the mortgage repayments due to ill health, unemployment or other reasons; and, of these, how many have been forced to sell their home and (a) move out or (b) become council tenants again.

Sir George Young

I refer to the answer given today to the hon. Member for Harlow (Mr. Newens). It is estimated that about 1,000 such dwellings out of a total of 300,000 in England were repossessed by local authorities or returned to their ownership in the financial year 1981–82.

65. Mr. Bob Dunn

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he remains satisfied with the publicity given to the choices available to local authority and new town tenants under the right to buy legislation.

Mr. Stanley

Since the right to buy was enacted there has been substantial Government publicity to draw tenants' attention to their statutory rights under the legislation. A number of local authorities and new towns have in addition put out their own publicity material on the right to buy. The need for further publicity is being kept under review.

Mr. Cartwright

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out the specific ways in which he feels that the London borough of Greenwich is failing to carry out its full duties under the right-to-buy provisions of the Housing Act 1980; and what steps he plans to take in the matter.

Mr. Stanley

My right hon. Friend is very concerned over the complaints on a wide range of issues which the Department has received from secure tenants of the council of the London borough of Greenwich who are seeking to exercise their right to buy. These issues have included the council's progress in taking right-to-buy applications to completion; its policy in imposing service charge covenants for estate facilities; its refusal in some cases to include garages and front gardens in right-to-buy sales; its practice in issuing completion notices; the inadequacy of information supplied with offer notices for flats; delays in providing plans necessary for the sale of some flats; and its refusal to allow tenants to correct or supplement information contained in their application forms. Following discussions with the Department the council has agreed to modify its position in certain instances, but some of these issues remain the subject of investigation and correspondence with the council. My right hon. Friend is currently considering the further action that may be appropriate.

Mr. Aitken

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many council properties have been sold under the right-to-buy scheme in the Thanet area; and what is the average length of time for each sale.

Mr. Stanley

For the latest available information on sales by local authorities in England to the end of June 1982, I refer my hon. and learned Friend to the table which I placed in the Library following the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Reading, North (Mr. Durant) on 24 November 1982.—[Vol. 32, c. 532.] Information on the average length of time taken to process a sale is not available, but all local authorities have been informed that the Secretary of State expects that it should now normally be possible for tenants who claim the right to buy to complete the purchase of their homes within 3 to 4 months of their right to buy being admitted where they and their solicitors proceed reasonably expeditiously.