17.
asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average cost of determining the fair rent of a dwelling in the private sector at the present time; and what is his estimate of the total cost of determining the fair rents of all council houses in England and Wales on the basis that local authorities and the proposed rent scrutiny boards are able to make the necessary arrangements and decisions at half the cost currently applying for determinations in the private sector.
On the first part of the Question, I have nothing to add to the reply I gave to the hon. Member on 21st February. On the second part, I do not think it profitable to make financial estimates on the basis of an assumption I cannot share.—[Vol. 831, c. 221.]
Is it not clear that, in addition to the extremely high and inflationary consequences of the application of fair rents to the public sector, there will be a heavy burden of administrative charges? How does that fit in with the Government's frequent pledges that prices will be reduced and public expenditure cut?
There is a later Question on the Paper on that specific matter, but I do not accept the assumptions in the supplementary question nor in the original Question.
I am grateful for not being a Member of the Standing Committee on the Housing Finance Bill. Will my hon. Friend explain to me why the Opposition say when Labour is in power that the concept of fair rents is fair but that it has become unfair now that the Conservatives are in power?
I assure my hon. and learned Friend that many hon. Members would be prepared to give up their place for him in the Committee on the Housing Finance Bill. We have been trying to find out the answer to the question he has asked but, although the Committee's proceedings have been of inordinate length, we have not yet had an answer.
If the Under-Secretary of State does not accept my hon. Friend's assumptions about the cost of assessing fair rents, what estimate does he make of the cost of assessing them, and why should the cost be met by local authorities and not by the Government when the Government are imposing this policy on local authorities against their will?
No doubt the hon. Gentleman, after innumerable sittings of the Committee, has taken time to read the Financial and Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill, which answers his question.