HC Deb 28 March 1988 vol 130 c309W
Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether he will ensure that the following applications, identified by their reference number and applicant's surname, for grant towards the repair of defective Cornish unit style former council houses, submitted to his Bristol office on 25 February, and still awaiting notice of determination, receive such determination not later than Friday 25 March, so that mortgages to finance the non-grant covered repair cost may be obtained before the law as to tax allowance on mortgages alters on 5 April: P.R.C.I (Greenslade), P.R.C.3 (Sydenham), P.R.C.6 (Pickering), P.R.C.7 (Cotterell), P.R.C.8 (Rawding), P.R.C.9 (Maglov), P. R.C. 11 (Harvey), P.R.C.12 (Cross), P.R.C.13 (Smith), P. R.C.14 (Harvey), P. R.C.17 (Morgan), P. R.C.22 (Bullivant), P.R.C.23 (Mathias), P. R.C.24 (Parsons), P.R.C.25 (Gibbons) and P.R.C.26 (Dakin); and if he will also ensure that the application P.R.C.28 by Mr. Smith on 8 March is determined by 25 March;

(2) if he will make it his policy to give notification of the acceptability of grant applications for repair of defective Cornish unit former council houses, submitted to his Bristol office on 25 February and 8 March, so that applicants are able to obtain mortgages for the rest of the repair cost before the taxation provisions applicable to such mortgages alter adversely on 5 April.

Mrs. Roe

All applications for higher expenditure limits under the housing defects legislation are dealt with as quickly as possible, and preferential treatment cannot be given to individual cases. However, irrespective of whether such decisions have been given, owners may be able to arrange loans to cover the possible extent of costs that they may need to bear themselves, and should seek their own professional advice on this.