§ Mr. Murphyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer on 18 February about the number of outstanding right-to-buy applications, Official Report, column 335, what action he is taking to ensure Welwyn Hatfield district and other local authorities speed up their processing.
§ Sir George YoungThe figures for outstanding right-to-buy applications shown in theOfficial Report, at
342W
Rent loss on void dwellings—Greater London 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 *1984–85 £ £ £ £ £ Greater London Council 3,489,193 3,550,176 1,474,160 1,332,764 1,300,000 City of London 18,432 24,105 34,325 118,653 120,397 Camden 1,482,065 867,482 877,983 1,049,848 1,147,030 Greenwich 328,478 796,118 707,720 675,000 700,000 Hackney 309,951 759,000 2,250,000 2,616,087 2,616,087 Hammersmith and Fulham 649,350 945,686 1,192,099 1,061,034 880,000 Islington 1,280,127 1,506,410 2,031,845 1,840,901 1,642,545 Kensington and Chelsea 128,408 192,387 252,971 218,738 232,000 Lambeth 659,823 760,426 1,842,333 2,212,290 2,290,000 Lewisham 818,736 983,513 1,236,355 1,748,505 2,100,000 Southwark 1,886,208 2,682,478 3,273,795 3,061,962 2,851,336 Tower Hamlets 316,411 950,501 1,038,367 1,083,932 553,000 Wandsworth 1,328,671 2,351,184 2,151,085 1,723,127 1,909,000 Westminster 350,000 495,500 500,000 729,635 700,000 Barking and Dagenham 210,751 384,478 465,146 384,717 382,842 Barnet 307,954 334,129 422,961 493,445 425,770 Bexley 101,676 112,702 155,152 159,117 133,110 Brent 379,488 450,040 573,673 772,596 768,810 Bromley 177,004 307,112 318,936 353,867 350,000 Croydon 165,368 255,000 261,649 353,879 373,840 Ealing 382,500 753,822 491,669 342,851 343,000 Enfield 181,325 208,024 324,490 482,481 506,900 Haringey 673,777 745,746 901,644 1,028,163 1,100,000 Harrow 56,986 137,597 175,103 214,092 215,000 Havering 342,846 467,490 554,414 496,265 498,500 Hillingdon 469,780 640,023 432,352 370,785 385,800 Hounslow 231,821 269,476 366,175 376,562 300,000 Kingston-upon-Thames 78,947 136,255 174,736 187,559 135,700 Merton 271,400 330,000 320,681 381,962 475,240 Newham 593,616 556,850 1,080,012 1,989,448 1,253,000 Redbridge 127,003 194,000 288,609 306,799 302,000 Richmond-upon-Thames 66,222 103,336 119,447 151,542 122,300 column 335, are taken from statistical returns provided by local authorities. Welwyn Hatfield has subsequently amended its figures to show that as at March 1984 there were 1,160 outstanding cases (not 1,558). These figures can, however, only be used as a very crude indicator of possible delays in processing applications because they dc not distinguish between cases awaiting action by the tenant or the authority, and in 761 of the 1,044 outstanding cases at March 1984 applicants had received their section 10 notice (which notifies them of the price of the dwelling) but had neither accepted the offer nor withdrawn their application.
While we have no reason to consider that tenants of Welwyn Hatfield are currently experiencing delays in the processing of their right-to-buy applications, where delays do arise, or are suspected, the Department takes this up with the authority concerned and, where appropriate, monitors monthly progress in detail.