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3 July 2006 : Column 779W—continued

Right to Buy

Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a)
3 July 2006 : Column 780W
initial applications and (b) completed sales were made under the right to buy in each local authority in London in each quarter of 2005-06. [75305]

Yvette Cooper: The numbers of right-to-buy applications submitted and sales completed in London in the first three quarters of 2005-06 can be found in the following table. Data shown are as reported by local authorities. Where a local authority has failed to respond the table has been left blank. Information concerning the last quarter of 2005-06 is not yet available.

Right-to-buy sales and applications. London: April-December 2005
	April-June 2005		July-September 2005		October-December 2005
Local authority	Applications	Sales	Applications	Sales	Applications	Sales
Barking and Dagenham	210	66	210	57	201	63
Barnet	19	22	71	14	32	6
Bexley	0	0	0	0	0	0
Brent	45	26	43	19	49	12
Bromley(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Camden	154	51	54	26	n/a	n/a
City of London	11	2	3	1	10	0
Croydon	39	9	43	8	30	15
Ealing	85	17	60	18	52	11
Enfield	71	22	71	25	41	3
Greenwich	135	34	118	40	92	30
Hackney	132	94	160	43	124	36
Hammersmith and Fulham	53	38	55	40	27	23
Haringey	83	101	80	54	93	39
Harrow	13	18	22	7	15	4
Havering	58	28	54	21	38	23
Hillingdon	40	21	23	24	19	17
Hounslow	61	17	36	17	45	6
Islington	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Kensington and Chelsea	23	6	35	1	21	3
Kingston upon Thames(1)	10	4	14	5	12	2
Lambeth	182	128	155	53	n/a	n/a
Lewisham	157	98	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Merton	31	15	35	11	36	10
Newham	121	69	199	44	130	47
Redbridge	19	21	26	23	20	12
Richmond upon Thames(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Southwark	253	293	253	217	230	125
Sutton	21	4	18	3	19	5
Tower Hamlets	169	172	177	108	153	64
Waltham Forest	43	19	38	12	39	8
Wandsworth	75	45	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Westminster	51	15	27	11	31	4
n/a = not available (1) Bromley and Richmond upon Thames transferred their stock to registered social landlords and may have retained a small residual number unlikely to be sold through the right-to-buy scheme. Source: P1A/B quarterly return from local authorities to the Department for Communities and Local Government

3 July 2006 : Column 781W

Safety Cameras

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether planning permission is required for (a) traffic cameras and (b) speed cameras; and whether each category of camera has permitted development rights. [78333]

Yvette Cooper: The installation of traffic and speed cameras is not development as defined in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, so neither planning permission nor permitted development rights are required.

Shared Equity Scheme

Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people have participated in the Government's Shared Equity scheme since May 2005. [79899]

Yvette Cooper: Information on the number of people participating in Shared Equity schemes is not held centrally. However, 16,405 shared ownership and HomeBuy equity loan sales, funded through the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Programme, were completed between April 2005 and May 2006.

Shared Ownership (West Midlands)

Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans there are to expand the number of homes available for shared ownership in the West Midlands. [74194]

Yvette Cooper: The Government award Regional Housing Pot funding to each region in England and ask Regional Housing Boards to recommend how the funding should be allocated in accordance with the Regional Housing Strategy. In the West Midlands, 2006-08 Regional Housing Pot funding has been allocated to fund provision of an additional 1,690 homes for shared ownership.

In addition, by 2010 an estimated 1,050 new homes for shared ownership will be under construction in the West Midlands under our First Time Buyers Initiative.

Existing social homes are also available for shared ownership through the Social HomeBuy scheme. The shared equity task force is looking at further ways to expand home ownership. People living in the Dudley area interested in shared ownership can contact the new one-stop-shop provided by Mercian Housing Association on 0845 607 6726 or find details at: www.homebuyagents.org.uk

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