Scottish Homes (Hansard, 14 June 1988)

§ Mr. Home Robertson
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make it his policy to direct the proposed Scottish Homes organisation to assist tenants with proceedings in cases of dispute with new landlords who have acquired public sector housing stock.

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
Clause 2 of the Housing (Scotland) Bill provides Scottish Homes with wide-ranging powers of assistance. My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans at present to direct Scottish Homes as to the use of those powers in relation to tenants involved in disputes with their landlords. We anticipate that Scottish Homes will use its discretion wisely in such circumstances.

§ Mr. Home Robertson
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will make it his policy to direct the proposed Scottish Homes organisation to ensure that bodies which acquire public sector housing stock apply principles of rent setting which will keep rents within the reach of those in lower paid employment;
(2) if he will make it his policy to direct the proposed Scottish Homes organisation to ensure that bodies other than housing associations which acquire public sector housing stock will offer the same or similar guarantees to their tenants as those offered by housing associations;
(3) if he will make it his policy to direct the proposed Scottish Homes organisation to take effective steps to require bodies which acquire public sector housing stock to guarantee proper treatment for tenants; and if he will provide for sanctions to enforce such conditions;
(4) if he will make it his policy to direct the proposed Scottish Homes organisation to ensure that bodies which acquire public sector housing stock allocate houses to let to those who need them most, including disadvantaged groups;
(5) if he will make it his policy to direct the proposed Scottish Homes organisation to make approval of landlords seeking to acquire public sector housing stock conditional on undertakings given by such applicants;
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(6) if he will make it his policy to direct the proposed Scottish Homes Organisation to take effective steps to require bodies which acquire public sector housing stock to retain such stock in the rented sector.

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
Where public sector tenants transfer to new landlords, Scottish Homes will be involved directly only where such transfers take place under the tenants' choice provisions in part III of the Housing (Scotland) Bill. Such transfers cannot proceed without the approval of the individual tenant who will wish to consider all aspects of the transfer and ensure that the transfer occurs only under conditions with which he is satisfied.
Where local authorities seek to make large-scale transfers of their stock to private sector landlords, including housing associations or housing co-operatives, the approval of my right hon. and learned Friend, not of Scottish Homes, will be required.
Scottish Homes' approval to landlords becoming receiving landlords for the purposes of tenants' choice will not be given lightly. As the hon. Member will recall from discussions during the Commons stages of the Bill, I have emphasised that Scottish Homes will be expected to ensure that landlords to which it gives approval are sound financially and have the management capability to provide a good service to tenants; and Scottish Homes will be expected also to monitor approved landlords' performance.
Scottish Homes will also have to approve first subsequent disposals of property transferred under the tenants' choice provisions in the Bill. In exercising this approval power, Scottish Homes will again take into account such factors as the suitability and viability of the proposed new landlord, and tenants' views.
No Scottish local authorities have as yet applied to my right hon. and learned Friend for approval to dispose of substantial proportions of their housing stock. However, he proposes later in the summer to issue guidelines on the general criteria which he expects to adopt in Scotland when considering applications for consent to any such disposals. As indicated in a letter of 8 June 1988 from the Scottish Development Department to chief executives of district and islands councils, the matters to which the Secretary of State may have regard in determining whether to give consent, and the conditions he may propose on consents, will include the extent to which the new landlord is independent of the disposing council, the extent to which the proposed disposal would result in the intending purchaser becoming the predominant or a substantial owner of housing to let in any area, the terms of the proposed disposal and any other matters which the Secretary of State considers relevant. In giving consent to a disposal, the Secretary of State may also give directions as to the purpose for which any receipt from the disposal is to be applied. I expect that the guidelines to be issued later on large scale disposals will be generally similar to those issued by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment last week, and will cover such matters as tenants' rights, allocation policies and rent levels, and the desirability of stock transferred continuing after a subsequent disposal to be available for renting at rents within the reach of those in lower-paid employment.