Smith Houses (West Bromwich)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 10:39 pm on 18 June 1985.

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Photo of George Young George Young Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Environment) 10:39, 18 June 1985

The hon. Member for West Bromwich, West (Miss Boothroyd) has spoken movingly about the problems facing a number of her constituents who bought Smith houses from the local authority. They now face a range of problems because they find that they cannot sell them because the purchaser cannot obtain a mortgage.

One cannot feel anything but sympathy for the case that the hon. Lady mentioned of the husband who has found a job elsewhere and whose family cannot join him because of difficulty in selling the family home. I hope that some of the things that I say about the role of the building societies will be of help to that couple. The hon. Lady also asked whether I would meet a deputation of tenants. I wonder whether she meant tenants, because during most of her remarks she was speaking about owner-occupiers.