§ Mr. Hawksleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will consider as part of the arrangements for the winding-up of new town development corporations the transfer of their housing stock to bodies other than local authorities.
§ Mr. TraceyYes. One of the Government's key objectives is to diversify the ownership and management of public sector housing stock and to give tenants more say in the running of their estates. The process of finding permanent landlords for the 60,000 rented dwellings still in new town ownership may well provide valuable opportunities to further that objective. When the time comes in each new town to consider transfer of the housing provided by the development corporation we would be prepared to consider any proposals for an alternative to a transfer scheme under part III of the New Towns Act 1981 put forward by a corporation which it believes would be in the best long term interests of its tenants and which in our view would further the objectives of diversification and better management. Clearly there are a number of important considerations we would wish to bear in mind in considering such proposals, including the protection of tenants' rights and the financial terms proposed for transfer. We shall also have regard to the views of the tenants themselves, the local authorities and other interested bodies including representatives of the staff who may be affected by transfer.
We are of course not excluding in any case consideration of the option of a transfer to a local authority under part III. We will take all the possibilities into account in each case.