§ Mr. John MarshallTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which are the four London boroughs which have 1,000 tenants who have not been served with an offer notice within the statutory time limit under the right-to-buy legislation; how long this state of affairs has existed in each case; and if he will use his powers under the Housing Act 1980 to remedy this situation.
§ Mr. TrippierAccording to the latest information, the four boroughs concerned are Brent, Camden, Lewisham and Newham. In Lewisham and Brent respectively only in the last two and five months have overdue cases exceeded 1,000. The rise in overdue cases is a relatively recent phenomenon reflecting the boom in right-to-buy applications. Even in Camden (13 months) and Newham (17 months), the position is not of long standing; nor is it intractable.
My right hon. Friend recognises, of course, that this is not a satisfactory state of affairs and has impressed on the councils concerned the need for urgent action; they are taking positive action to expedite the processing of right-to-buy applications. The Housing Bill provides further powers which will ensure that local authorities are encouraged to process right-to-buy applications with the minimum of delay. These include provisions for applicants who suffer unreasonable delay to have the rent for that period set against the discounted purchase price of the dwelling; and to have the period during which they are liable to repay discount correspondingly reduced; and for local authorities to use capital receipts to fund the necessary additional administrative staff to support the processing of right-to-buy casework. My right hon. Friend takes the view that these measures combined with a recognition of the part of the local authorities of the need to take full advantage of capital receipts from sales, will encourage a significant improvement in performance. If they do not do so, he will not hesitate to act.