To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what monitoring his Department conducts of the (a) range and (b) average rental cost of BES tenancies per month; and what information he has on the proportion of tenants in BES properties who receive housing benefit (a) in inner London, (b) in outer London, (c) in other metropolitan areas and (d) in the country as a whole.

I have been asked to reply.This information is not available at present. The Department has, however, commissioned research into BES funded assured tenancy schemes, which will investigate, inter alia, the rents charged and the characteristics of tenants, including their incomes, savings and the benefits they receive.