§ Sir William SheltonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he intends to take on the performance of Lambeth in processing right-to-buy applications.
§ Mr. YeoLambeth is one of several London authorities where large numbers of tenants have experienced delays in the processing of their right-to-buy applications and who have thus been denied their statutory rights. The performance of all London authorities is monitored annually, and the poorest performers are required to submit monthly reports. In March 1989 the Government introduced procedures which enabled tenants to have rent counted as advance payments towards purchase of their home if sale was delayed. Through this measure, the tenant gains some recompense and the authority loses part of the receipt on sale.
Following these measures the number of delays in monitored authorities has fallen dramatically, from 15,457 in March 1989 to 3,712 in September 1990. Most London authorities now have only a handful of cases, if any, where tenants are being delayed in the exercise of their statutory right. Only two authorities are still subject to monthly monitoring—Lambeth and Hackney.
Lambeth accounted for 40 per cent. of the total cases delayed in London in September 1990. On the basis of the most recent return, Lambeth still has 843 cases out of time, which is three times as many as the next worst authority. Not only are right-to-buy applicants continuing to suffer, but Lambeth tenants and residents as a whole pay for this inefficiency through the receipts forgone on delayed sales. This is clearly unacceptable. On 29 October I therefore invited the leader of Lambeth council and his senior relevant officials to meet me to discuss this situation and what needs to be done to bring Lambeth's right-to-buy performance to an acceptable level.