§ Mr. John MarshallTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the trend in owner-occupation since 1979.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonOne of the Government's principal housing objectives is to maximise the opportunities for home ownership. In Scotland, the proportion of houses in owner-occupation has increased from 35 per cent. in 1979 to over 45 per cent. at present, and over the 10-year period to 1988 the number of owner-occupiers has increased from 699,000 to 944,000. This substantial progress has been achieved largely by the introduction of the right to buy scheme for public sector tenants in 1980. Since then discount levels have been increased, and we have introduced a number of further improvements to the scheme to make it easier for tenants to purchase their homes.
Many other measures are aimed at continuing the growth of home ownership in Scotland. A major initiative has been the establishment of Scottish Homes, which has a wide range of functions, including the promotion of owner-occupation, especially for first-time buyers. We have asked Scottish Homes to introduce a scheme for house purchase under which the tenants' financial commitments will be related to their current rentt. This rens to mortgages scheme will be available to tenants of Scottish Homes and the Scottish new towns later this year.
There are other schemes which enable tenants of housing associations and local authorities to be offered cash incentives to purchase other properties; and the Scottish Homes low cost home ownership programme assists those who cannot purchase outright to make a first step towards owning their own homes.