§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2002,Official Report, column 846W, on police houses, in what circumstances such an officer who remained a tenant from the present day until July 2002 would not enjoy a right to buy at that date. [31563]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 30 January 2002]: Those Metropolitan police service tenants who became secure tenants as a result of amendments to the Housing Act 1985 made by the Greater London Authority Act 1999, will acquire a right to buy once they have occupied the property for two years, ie at July 2002.
If the officer was not a secure tenant (under the Housing Act 1985) in July 2002, the right to buy would not arise.
We propose in the Police Reform Bill to remove the Metropolitan police authority from the secure tenancy regime, while ensuring that any secure tenant who has acquired the right to buy at the time of Royal Assent of the Bill will have a three month period of grace to exercise that right.
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has informed me that the Metropolitan police service intends to write to those tenants affected to give early notification of the provisions of the Bill.