§ Mr. Eldon Griffithsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities he has asked to report to him monthly on their progress in selling council houses; and if he will list them in the Official Report.
§ Mr. StanleyThere are currently 82 authorities as follows:
- Ashfield
- Barking and Dagenham
- Barnsley
- Bassetlaw
- Birmingham
- Blyth Valley
- Bolsover
- Brent
- Bristol
- Burnley
- Cambridge
- Camden
- Cannock Chase
- Carlisle
- Chesterfield
- Chester-le-Street
- Copeland
- Coventry
- Crawley
- Derby
- Doncaster
- Durham
- East Hertfordshire
- Ellesmere Port and Neston
- Gateshead
- Greater London Council
- Great Grimsby
- Great Yarmouth
- Greenwich
- Hackney
- Haringey
- Harlow
- Harrogate
- Hounslow
- Ipswich
- Islington
- Kingston-upon-Hull
- Kirklees
- Knowsley
- Lambeth
- Langbaurgh
- Leeds
- Leicester
- Lewisham
- Lincoln
- Liverpool
- Manchester
- Mansfield
- Middlesbrough
- Newcastle-under-Lyme
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- Newham
- North Norfolk
321 - North Tyneside
- North-West Leicestershire
- Norwich
- Nottingham
- Nuneaton
- St. Helens
- Salford
- Sandwell
- Scunthorpe
- Sedgefield
- Sheffield
- South Shropshire
- Southwark
- Stevenage
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Sunderland
- Tameside
- Thamesdown
- Thurrock
- Tower Hamlets
- Wakefield
- Walsall
- Waltham Forest
- Watford
- Wear Valley
- Welwyn and Hatfield
- Wigan
- Wolverhampton
- Wychavon
§ Mr. Eldon Griffithsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is prepared to use his power to intervene for the purpose of ensuring that district councils comply with the Housing Act 1980 in the case of individual tenants whose efforts to purchase their homes have been delayed or frustrated by Mid-Suffolk council.
§ Mr. StanleyMy right hon. Friend is prepared to use his powers under section 23(1) of the Housing Act 1980 where it appears to him that tenants generally, or a tenant or tenants of a particular landlord, have or may have difficulty in exercising the right to buy effectively and expeditiously.
§ Mr. Eldon Griffithsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received on behalf of tenants of Mid-Suffolk district council that in certain cases the council has refused to sell council houses to tenants who wish to buy them unless the tenants first agree to surrender to the council all but the nearest 10 metres of their gardens; and if he will take steps to secure tenants' rights to buy the whole of the property in cases where conditions of this kind are made.
§ Mr. StanleyI have received representations from my hon. Friend the Member for Eye (Mr. Gummer), and from the Mid-Suffolk Tenants' Rights Association. The Housing Act 1980 gives secure tenants the right to buy their dwelling-house including land let together with it unless the land is agricultural land exceeding two acres. The Department has recently written to the Mid-Suffolk district council on this point and the council's response is awaited.
§ Mr. Eldon Griffithsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment to what extent it is the practice of housing authorities in rural areas to advise tenants of council houses seeking to purchase their homes that the valuation of the gardens belonging to their houses may be increased to take account of their potential development value; if in this regard he has considered the practice of Mid-Suffolk 322W district council; and if he will take steps to ensure that in all such cases valuation is made on the basis of the use of the land at the time the tenant originally offered to purchase it.
§ Mr. StanleyThe valuation of the dwelling-house must be made on the basis specified in section 6 of the Act, and it should therefore take account of any benefit conferred by an existing planning permission or the prospect of obtaining it. Tenants buying their homes under the right to buy may apply for a determination by the district valuer under section 11 of the Act if they are not satisfied with the value contained in their section 10 notices.