asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take the necessary steps to enable council and housing association tenants to purchase their houses under an equity sharing scheme; and if he will make a statement.

The Housing and Building Control Bill, published on 5 November, will give secure tenants the right to buy on a shared ownership basis where they cannot afford to buy outright. All local authorities, new towns and housing associations are already able to offer the alternative of shared ownership in all circumstances where they are making voluntary sales of either vacant or tenanted dwellings.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) from the latest evidence available to him, what is the percentage of finance provided privately for council house sales;(2) why in the explanatory and financial memorandum of the Housing and Building Control Bill (pp iii-iv), he chose 47 per cent. as the proportion of finance provided privately for council house sales; and if he will provide the evidence for, and assumptions behind, his choice of 47 per cent.

I shall answer these questions shortly.