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28 Jun 2005 : Column 1485W—continued
Home Ownership
Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his written statement of 25 May 2005, Official Report, column 17WS, on home ownership, how many people in each region he expects to be eligible for the shared home ownership schemes. [6485]
Yvette Cooper: It is not possible to estimate at the moment how many people in each region will be eligible for our new HomeBuy shared equity proposals as set out in our consultation document HomeBuy—Expanding the Opportunity to Own".
We want to ensure that our support is directed at people most in need of assistance. Our consultation document proposes that social tenants and those on housing registers, key workers and other first time buyers identified by Regional Housing Boards should be eligible for assistance. Final eligibility criteria will therefore be dependent on the recommendations of Regional Housing Boards.
The consultation closes on 24 June and we intend to put the new arrangements in place by April 2006.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the written statement of 25 May 2005, Official Report, column 17WS, on home ownership, how many of the shared home ownership schemes he expects to be in place by April 2009; and how many people he expects to have participated in them. [6486]
Yvette Cooper: Sustainable Communities: Homes for All", a copy of which can be found in the Library of the House, indicated that over 80,000 households will be helped into home-ownership through low cost home ownership schemes by 2010. This total could increase to as many as 110,000 through a deal being negotiated with the Council of Mortgage Lenders that would involve the Government funding equity loans jointly with private lenders.
However, it is too early to say how many people will have participated in shared ownership schemes between now and April 2009. Decisions on the overall level of funding for affordable housing in each region in 2006–07 and 2007–08 will be taken over the summer in the light of advice from the Regional Housing Boards. The allocation of these funds across the regions, which will be announced early next year, will reflect advice from the boards and the quantity and value for money of bids to the Housing Corporation. The delivery of outputs from 2008–09 will be dependent upon the outcome of the next Spending Review in 2006.
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House Prices
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 21 June 2005, Official Report, column 878W, on house prices, what the average house price for England was in (a) 1993 and (b) 2004. [7546]
Yvette Cooper: Mix-adjusted house prices for the UK, constituent countries and the Government Office regions from 1993 are published as Live Table 507 on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website at:
House Sales (Islamic Financing)
Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1)how many homes have been sold in each year since 1997 under (a) shared ownership and (b) right-to-buy schemes using the principles of Islamic financing; [6408]
(2) what provision has been made by his Department to enable the purchase of homes under (a) shared ownership and (b) right-to-buy schemes that are compliant with Islamic financing principles. [6409]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) is exploring options with the Housing Corporation and other regulators to ascertain whether it is possible for shared equity products to comply with Islamic law. The issues are complex and we want a solution which protects both the rights of individuals and provides security for Government funds.
In March 2005, the ODPM published a consultation paper, Non-standard mortgages for purchasing social dwellings", on its proposal to issue a General Consent under section 32 of the Housing Act 1985 to facilitate the use of finance that complies with Sharia principles by secure tenants of local authorities who wish to buy their homes. The paper is available on the ODPM website, at: http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm_housing/documents/page/odpm_house_035962.hcsp
The closing date for responses was 20 June 2005. We will consider the responses received before taking any action.
Housing Initiatives
Dr. Cable: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the proportion of (a) shared owners and (b) Homebuy purchasers who expect to own their own home outright eventually. [6451]
Yvette Cooper: On 6 June the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published a supporting annex to our consultation document HomeBuy—expanding the opportunity to own" (April 2005). This summarised key research into our existing shared ownership and Homebuy schemes. Research included the Evaluation of the Low Cost Home Ownership Programme (ODPM 2002)" which found that over 80 per cent. of shared owners and 53 per cent. of Homebuy purchasers expected to own their current home outright eventually.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the potential costs to (a) public funds and (b) mortgage lenders of properties
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purchased under the Homebuy Joint Shared Equity Loan with Mortgage Lenders scheme being sold at below the original purchase price. [6454]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently consulting on the details of our proposals for a range of new HomeBuy products, as set out in the consultation document HomeBuy—Expanding the Opportunity to Own" (a copy of which is available from the Library of the House). This includes proposals for the joint public/private funding of equity loans.
Under these proposals a proportion of the equity loan assistance currently offered by the Government under the HomeBuy scheme will be replaced with funding from a private mortgage lender. For example, if a buyer purchases 75 per cent. of a home through their own means the Government will fund 12.5 per cent. and the private lender the remaining 12.5 per cent.
Subject to the outcome of the consultation exercise the Open Market HomeBuy scheme will be modified in this way. This will enable the Government's funding allocated to the scheme to go further and help more people into home ownership. It is not our intention that there will be any overall increase in costs to public funds as a result of these proposals.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has made no assessment of the potential costs to lenders of operating this scheme; that is a primarily a matter for lenders themselves.
Key Workers
Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what definition of key worker his Department uses. [6417]
Yvette Cooper: For the purposes of the Key Worker Living (KWL) programme, a key worker is someone employed by the public sector in health, education or community safety delivering an essential public service in a role where there are serious recruitment and retention problems. Within this broad definition sponsor Government Departments and Police and Fire Authorities specify the groups at which help should be targeted based on recruitment and retention issues in critical frontline services. The sector specific eligibility criteria can be found in Annex B of the KWL Capital Funding Guide on the Housing Corporation's website at http://www.housingcorp.gov.uk/resources/cfg.htm
Local Authorities (Performance)
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what extra powers the Government will offer local authorities rated (a) excellent and (b) good in the revised Comprehensive Performance Assessment regime. [7444]
Mr. Woolas:
Under the current Comprehensive Performance Assessment regime excellent and good authorities benefit from a number of additional freedoms, including new powers to trade and streamlined requirements for best value performance plans. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently consulting on provisions allowing good and excellent authorities to spend income from fixed penalty notices from dog fouling and litter on any service.
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Excellent authorities benefit from further freedoms from statutory plan requirements, significant reductions in levels of inspection and reduced ring fencing. These freedoms will remain under the revised CPA system and we will be considering what further freedoms can be provided before the first scores under the revised system are published at the end of the year.
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