§ 43. Mr. GowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many houses and how many flats are owned by local authorities; and what new proposals he has to extend the opportunity for them to become owner-occupied.
§ Mr. TrippierIn April 1988 local authorities in England owned some 4.5 million dwellings, about a third of them flats or maisonettes. Following the new discount scale for flats introduced in January 1987 sales of flats increased from 9 per cent. to 17.6 per cent. as a proportion of all sales. Tenants of both houses and flats have recently been helped to buy their homes by an increase in the maximum discount to £50,000 and by a new power to have rent deducted from the purchase price if the landlord delays the sale.