§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has received any complaints regarding the operation of section 3(5) of the Housing Defects Act; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John PattenYes. I am aware that some owners are unhappy about this. Under the act such cases are for the local authority to decide, though owners who are not satisfied with their council's decision can take the matter to the county court. I therefore cannot comment on individual cases; but the Department's circular 28/84 issued on 7 November 1984, offered guidance to local authorities on the kind of circumstances in which they might offer repurchase under this provision. I look to local authorities to operate the Act in a reasonable way.
§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish for each local housing authority the most recent figures for (a) the number of applications received under the Housing Defects Act 1984, (b) the number of grants paid under the Act and (c) the number of repurchases indicating separate figures in respect of those under section 3(5).
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§ Mr. John PattenEighty-five local authorities have reported that they have repurchased a total of 638 dwellings under the Act during the first half of the current financial year; details are listed. I regret that information on the number of applications for assistance, the number of grants paid, and the number of repurchases specifically under section 3(5) is not currently available.
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Number of dwellings repurchased in period 1 April to 30 September 1985 Local authority Number Ashford 3 Basildon 1 Bassetlaw 14 Bath 2 Birmingham 11 Bradford 90 Braintree 1 Bristol 1 Broxbourne 1 Charnwood 1 Cheltenham 1 Chesterfield 7 Chichester 7 Chiltern 19 Colchester 1 Copeland 1 Corby 1 Crawley 2 Croydon 1 Dacorum 1 Derby 1 East Cambridgeshire 1 East Devon 4 Eastleigh 5 East Staffordshire 2 Ellesmere Port and Neston 14 Epping Forest 1 Fenland 3 Gillingham 1 Great Grimsby 9 Harrogate 3 Harrow 5 Hart 2 Havering 40 Hereford 1 Kings Lynn and West Norfolk 1 Leominster 1 Lewisham 1 Maldon 1 Mendip 3 Mid Bedfordshire 3 Mid Devon 5 Mid Suffolk 2 Northavon 3 North Cornwall 2 Northampton 3 North Hertfordshire 3 North Wiltshire 37 Plymouth 44 Portsmouth 6 Reading 23 Redbridge 1 Salisbury 2 St. Albans 22 St. Edmundsbury 1 Sedgemoor 2 South Cambridgeshire 1 Southend on Sea 1 Southampton 16 South Hams 4 South Kesteven 1 South Norfolk 1 South Somerset 10 Stafford 4 Sutton 23
Local authority Number Taunton Deane 33 Tendring 1 Test Valley 13 Tewkesbury 7 Thamesdown 4 The Wrekin 1 Three Rivers 6 Trafford 7 Vale of White Horse 13 Vale Royal 1 Wansdyke 5 Waverley 1 Wellingborough 1 West Somerset 9 West Wiltshire 10 Windsor and Maidenhead 2 Wokingham 20 Worthing 1 Wychavon 1 Wyre Forest 17 638