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26 Mar 2007 : Column 1342W—continued
| £ a month | |||||
| 2000-01 and 2001-02 combined | 2001-02 and 2002-03 combined | 2002-03 and 2003-04 combined | 2003-04 and 2004-05 combined | 2004-05 and 2005-06 combined | |
| (1) Before deduction of housing benefit where applicable. (2) Assured and assured shorthold tenancies accessible to the public without special conditions. Note: Sampling variability is too great for the figures to give a reliable indication of change between years at regional level. Source: DCLG Survey of English Housing Latest update 4 October 2006 Next update November 2007 | |||||
Right to Buy Scheme
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether tenants on housing benefit may exercise the right to buy. [128093]
Yvette Cooper: Tenants who are in receipt of housing benefit may exercise the right to buy if they meet the qualifying criteria—i.e. that they hold secure tenancies and have been public sector tenants for at least five years. However, their ability to do so would depend on the willingness of lenders to offer them mortgage finance, or the availability of financial assistance from family or friends.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average (a) house price value and (b) cost to the purchaser was after the discount of a right to buy council property in England in (i) 1997 and (ii) the latest year for which figures are available. [129224]
Yvette Cooper: In 1996-97 the average value of a council property sold through the right to buy scheme in England was £41,000; after the discount was applied this represented an average cost to the purchaser of £21,000.
In 2005-06 the average value of a council property sold through the right to buy scheme in England was £84,000; after the discount was applied this represented an average cost to the purchaser of £58,000.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average net receipt to the public finances is from a right to buy sale. [129228]
Yvette Cooper: The average capital receipt to the public finances from the sale of a council property through the right to buy scheme in England in 2005-06 was £58,000.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes have been sold under the right to buy since its introduction. [129229]
Yvette Cooper: Between 1 October 1980 and 31 March 2006, 1,735,000 council properties have been sold through the right to buy scheme in England.
Social Rented Housing
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many social housing tenants (a) in each English region and (b) in each London local authority moved via Homeswap in each of the last five years. [128457]
Yvette Cooper:
Homeswap was the name given to a scheme for social housing tenants who transfer from one local authority or housing association property to another, across local authority boundaries, by advertising their existing property for an exchange with a similar tenant wishing to move in the opposite
direction. We do not collect data on Homeswap specifically, but do routinely collect data on mutual exchanges which include those formally arranged through the Homeswap scheme as well as any other exchanges within the local authority. Information is available on number of dwellings rather than social housing tenants. Dwellings let through mutual exchanges within the local authority are shown for the last five years in (a) each English region and (b) each London local authority in the table.
| (a) Dwellings let through mutual exchange, as at 1 April by region, as reported by local authorities | |||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| Source: Communities and Local Government Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix return (HSSA). | |||||
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