Figures for total receipts arising from LA RTB sales are from PIB quarterly returns from local authorities to CLG.
Figures for total receipts arising from the sales of LA dwellings that are paid to the Secretary of State are taken from LOGASNet Returns 2006PO4 and 2007PO4 made to CLG by local authorities as they appeared on 22 October 2008; the figures are subject to correction.
Right to Buy Scheme: Discounts
Mr. Pickles:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn, Hatfield of 10 September 2008, Official Report, columns 1996-98W, on the right to buy scheme: discounts, what consideration her Department and its predecessors have given to increasing right to buy discounts in line with house price inflation and appreciation since 1997. [230152]
Mr. Iain Wright:
The Government have no plan to change the current maximum limits on Right to Buy discounts.
Mr. Pickles:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn, Hatfield of 10 September 2008, Official Report, columns 1996-98W, on the right to buy scheme: discounts, what assessment her Department or its contractors has made of the effect of the changes in right to buy discounts and eligibility on the affordability of right to buy properties. [230155]
Mr. Iain Wright:
The School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol and the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, University of Birmingham carried out a thorough assessment of the impact of the changes to Right to Buy discounts that took effect in February 1999. Copies were placed in the Libraries of both Houses in May 2003. The report is also available on the website of the Department for Communities and Local Government, at:
Mr. Pickles:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what each of the regional and local authority caps for right to buy discounts are. [230191]
28 Oct 2008 : Column 971W
Mr. Iain Wright:
The current maximum right to buy discount limits determined by the Secretary of State under section 131 of the Housing Act 1985 are:
Area/region
Maximum RTB discount (£)
All London boroughs except Barking and Dagenham and Havering
16,000
London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham and Havering
38,000
Chiltern, Epsom and Ewell, Hart, Oxford, Reading, Reigate and Banstead, Tonbridge and Malling, Vale of White Horse, Watford, West Berkshire
16,000
South East region except Chiltern, Epsom and Ewell, Hart, Oxford, Reading, Reigate and Banstead, Tonbridge and Malling, Vale of White Horse, West Berkshire
38,000
Eastern region except Watford
34,000
South West
30,000
North West, West Midlands
26,000
Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands
24,000
North East
22,000
Shared Ownership Schemes
Mr. Austin Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people have taken part in Government programmes for (a) shared and (b) subsidised home ownership; and what the cost of each such programme has been in each year since introduction. [229404]
Mr. Iain Wright:
The following table shows the outturn expenditure for shared ownership and shared equity schemes provided through the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing programme since 1997-98 together with the number of homes that have been provided.
Shared ownership (£ million)
Shared equity (£ million)
Shared ownership (homes provided)
Shared equity (homes provided)
1997-98
62.0
0.0
4,350
0
1998-99
49.5
0.0
4,244
0
1999-2000
49.0
19.9
2,956
885
2000-01
60.2
35.3
2,551
1,487
2001-02
51.2
36.7
2,211
1,360
2002-03
75.7
108.6
2,315
3,892
2003-04
227.5
266.1
3,550
8,363
2004-05
249.5
213.7
5,741
5,436
2005-06
231.1
314.3
8,637
7,360
2006-07
320.0
91.3
10,954
2,507
2007-08
316.7
83.9
14,780
2,876
Note:
Shared ownership commenced in the mid 1980s but we only have reliable expenditure figures from 1997-98. Source:
Housing Corporation
Sleeping Rough
Mr. Laurence Robertson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to end rough sleeping (a) nationally and (b) in London; and if she will make a statement. [230994]
Mr. Iain Wright:
We have long recognised that the most visible form of homelessness is that of people sleeping on the streets. In 1998, the then Prime Minister set a target that by 2002 the number of rough sleepers 28 Oct 2008 : Column 972W
should be reduced by at least two thirds. The target was met ahead of time and is being sustained.
Clearly there is more to be done to help those in need and to drive down rough sleeping numbers to as close to zero as possible. Therefore, we intend to publish a Rough Sleeping Strategy later this year which builds on our success and looks at what we need to do in the future.
In addition, we have announced £200 million funding for local authorities and the voluntary sector over the next three years to help prevent homelessness and tackle rough sleeping. This is the biggest ever cash injection for homelessness services, with some £90 million allocated to London alone. We have also funded 258 projects through the £170 million Places of Change programme and its predecessor, 82 of them in London.
Social HomeBuy
Mr. Pickles:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn, Hatfield of 15 September 2008, Official Report, column 2086W, on housing: low incomes, (1) which local authorities and housing associations offer the scheme; and which localities the housing associations cover; [230033]
(2) which (a) local authorities and (b) housing associations in London offer Social Homebuy to their tenants. [230189]
Mr. Iain Wright:
The following local authorities offer the voluntary Social HomeBuy scheme to their tenants: London Boroughs of Camden, Croydon, Hammersmith and Fulham, Islington, Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth; and Fareham, Harlow and Waveney District Councils.
68 housing associations also offer the scheme to their tenants in all nine regions, including in 25 of the 33 London boroughs. The following table shows the housing associations by regions and local authorities.
List of Housing Associations offering Social HomeBuy by local authorities
