§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress he has made in setting up a computerised system to facilitate exchanges of homes by public sector tenants wanting to move to other parts of the country.
§ Mr. StanleyThe absence of any nationally-available information about the housing requirements of tenants who wish to move by arranging exchanges has been a serious impediment for years to the mobility of public sector tenants. Following consultations with the local authority associations, the Government are commissioning a computer bureau to establish a computer-based national information scheme for local authority, new town and housing association tenants who wish to move by exchanging homes.
The scheme will be called the tenants exchange scheme and is due to come into operation at the beginning of April. It will be available for use by tenants of local councils, new towns and housing associations throughout England and Wales. A letter giving details of the tenants exchange scheme is being sent today to all housing authorities, new town development corporations, and to the National Federation of Housing Associations, and I am placing a 318W copy in the Library. I believe that the tenants exchange scheme will prove of great assistance to tenants throughout the country who wish to move by arranging exchanges.