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6 Nov 2006 : Column 878W—continued


Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent on affordable housing in each of the last 20 years. [93797]

Yvette Cooper: The following table shows the amount of expenditure through the Housing Corporation on affordable housing since 1992-93. This does not include expenditure through English Partnerships for example on the first time buyers initiative or the London Wide initiative. Nor does it include investment in affordable housing through section 106 agreements.

£ million
Affordable Housing Programme Local Authority Social Housing Grant Safer Communities Supported Housing Fund Starter Home Initiative Other Total

1992-93

2,284

399

0

0

21

2,704

1993-94

1,761

443

0

0

33

2,238

1994-95

1,441

372

0

0

46

1,859

1995-96

1,112

370

0

0

41

1,523

1996-97

1,007

349

0

0

23

1,380

1997-8

667

363

0

0

60

1,090

1998-9

603

335

0

0

129

1,067

1999-2000

635

328

0

0

180

1,143

2000-01

727

400

0

0

103

1,230

2001-02

799

410

9

2

13

1,233

2002-03

925

499

27

67

11

1,529

2003-04

1,590

249

27

172

16

2,054

2004-05

1,600

35

11

7

18

1,671

2005-06 (1)

1,599

23

2

0

9

1,632

2006-07 (2)

1,958

0

0

0

20

1,841

2007-08 (2)

1,945

0

0

0

20

2,015

(1) Provisional
(2) Forecast

This table represents the investment the Government have made via the Housing Corporation to registered social landlords for the provision and repair of affordable housing for both rent and low cost home ownership.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 4 September 2006, Official Report, column 1664W, on housing, (1) in which local authority areas transactions have been completed under the Social Homebuy scheme; and how many transactions have been completed in each area; [94555]

(2) which (a) housing associations and (b) local authorities participate in the Social Homebuy scheme; [94572]

(3) how many housing associations are participating in the Social Homebuy scheme; [94659]


6 Nov 2006 : Column 879W

(4) how many social tenants are eligible for the Social HomeBuy scheme. [94758]

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many completed transactions of the sale or part-sale of homes have taken place under the Social Homebuy scheme. [95841]

Yvette Cooper: The Social Homebuy scheme is anew programme for secure and assured tenants of participating local authorities and housing associations. To qualify individuals must have been public sector tenants for at least two years (five years for tenancies granted on or after 18 January 2005).

Four housing associations (Notting Hill Housing Trust, Guinness Trust, Sovereign Housing Group and Places for People) and one local authority, the London borough of Southwark, have begun to pilot the new Social Homebuy scheme. The pilots were launched in late 2005 by inviting expressions of interest. The next stage was for landlords to supply key information to the potential purchasers who have expressed an interest on property values and likely costs, so that they could decide whether they wished to make a formal application. The first applications and sales are now starting to come through. Transactions typically take longer than house sales because landlords also carry out affordability checks to ensure purchasers can sustain home ownership. Over 150 applications are in the pipeline, with five sales completed and more expected shortly.

Of the five sales completed so far, three have been in the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, one was in the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the remaining one was in Chorley in Lancashire.

A further 38 housing associations intend to offer the Social Homebuy scheme from April 2007. The names of these housing associations are set out as follows. In addition the Housing Corporation announced details on 13 October of a further bidding round for housing associations to be funded to offer the scheme which will start on 30 October. A number of local authorities in London and elsewhere are also working up plans for pilots.

RSLs offering Social HomeBuy in 2006-08

London region


6 Nov 2006 : Column 880W

Region—South East

Region—East of England

Region—South West

Region—East Midlands

Region—West Midlands

Region—North East

Region—North West

Region—Yorkshire and Humber

Early pilots—most regions


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