§ Mr. FrenchTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he plans to use local estate agents to promote sales of properties through the rents into mortgages scheme.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonResponsibility for the administration and promotion of the rents to mortgages scheme lies with Scottish Homes and it is for that body to consider the most appropriate methods of encouraging sales under the scheme.
§ Mr. FrenchTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a further statement on the techniques Scottish Homes is using to promote the rents into mortgages scheme.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonAs a follow-up to the wide press coverage of the formal launch of the rents to mortgages scheme, Scottish Homes has made supplies of its explanatory leaflet available at each of its local offices and at the offices of the new town development corporations. It has also undertaken a mail drop of the leaflet to each of its tenants who are eligible to purchase under the scheme.
In addition to this general coverage, Scottish Homes has commissioned market research to enable it to target more concentrated sales campaigns in identified areas.
§ Mr. FrenchTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the proportion of council homes sold in the district council areas of Scotland where Scottish Homes is carrying out his Department's policy of allowing rents to be converted into mortgages; and what impact he expects this policy will have on the overall level of home ownership in those districts.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe pilot rents to mortgages scheme operates only in areas containing public sector housing rented from Scottish Homes or new town development corporations. The information requested for these areas is contained in the table.
While this is a pilot scheme available only to a specified range of tenants, I expect it to play a significant part in extending owner-occupation in its areas of operation.
137W
District Council Total sales from 1 April 1979 to 30 September 1989 Stock as at 30 September 1978 Percentage of stock sold since 1 April 1979 Kincardine and Deeside 723 3,565 20.29 Moray 2,576 10,543 24.43 Lothian East Lothian 3,504 16,210 21.62 Edinburgh 11,048 56,664 19.50 Midlothian 2,899 13,031 22.25 West Lothian 2,859 22,517 12.70 Strathclyde Argyll and Bute 1,115 8,105 13.76 Bearsden and Milngavie 425 1,817 23.39 Clydebank 1,465 11,746 12.47 Clydesdale 1,099 9,590 11.46 Cumbernauld and Kilsyth 681 4,350 15.66 Cumnock and Doon Valley 3 1,096 10,296 10.64 Cunninghame 3,475 23,531 14.77 Dumbarton 1,244 13,107 9.49 Eastwood 506 2,023 25.01 Glasgow 14,948 175,204 8.53 Hamilton 3,032 22,803 13.30 Inverclyde 2,085 20,014 10.42 Kilmarnock and Loudoun 2,317 18,254 12.69 Kyle and Carrick 1 3,830 18,290 20.94 Monklands 3 2,285 28,545 8.00 Motherwell 3,067 39,751 7.72 Renfrew 5,702 39,430 14.46 Strathkelvin 1 2,152 10,639 20.23 Tayside Angus 2,743 14,568 18.83 Dundee 3,870 39,845 9.71 Perth and Kinross 3,465 16,302 21.26 Shetland Islands 363 2,266 16.02 Western Isles 523 2,213 23.63
§ Mr. FrenchTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects the first sale to be completed of a Scottish Homes property bought under his Department's rents into mortgages scheme.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonI expect the first sale of a Scottish Homes property under the rents to mortgages scheme to be completed in March of this year.
§ Mr. FrenchTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has set a target for the number of homes to be sold through the rents into mortgages scheme by the end of the three-year experimental period.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonAt the launch of the rents to mortgages scheme on 30 October last year, my right hon. and learned Friend announced that he expected up to 5,000 applications under the scheme during the three-year period.