To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of schemes to assist first-time buyers with below-market value homes (a) in the European Community and (b) in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.
The Department is aware of several schemes for assisting house purchase deployed in European Community countries. Most involve assistance towards loan repayments; we are not aware of any schemes in which property can he purchased at less than full market
| The 1990–91 and 1991–92 Standard Spending Assessments for Education and Social Services and for each borough in Greater London in £ million· | ||||
| £ million | ||||
| Authority | 1990–91 Education SSA | 1991–92 Education SSA | 1990–91 Social Services SSA | 1991–92 Social Services SSA |
| City of London | 0·824 | 0·814 | 0·396 | 0·500 |
| Camden | 52·762 | 61·062 | 33·809 | 41·584 |
| Greenwich | 82·257 | 98·038 | 25·451 | 32·165 |
| Hackney | 91·828 | 106·800 | 45·074 | 55·504 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 45·602 | 51·587 | 32·215 | 38·937 |
| Islington | 64·211 | 76·597 | 34·146 | 43·015 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 29·783 | 34·857 | 23·497 | 30·155 |
| Lambeth | 105·484 | 124·829 | 57·262 | 71·209 |
| Lewisham | 86·010 | 102·429 | 35·035 | 43·806 |
| Southwark | 85·168 | 102·708 | 40·813 | 51·017 |
| Tower Hamlets | 91·292 | 112·110 | 32·414 | 41·015 |
| Wandsworth | 84·149 | 97·374 | 43·829 | 54·869 |
| Westminster | 44·456 | 50·044 | 34·161 | 43·073 |
| Barking and Dagenham | 48·338 | 56·906 | 14·943 | 18·288 |
| Barnet | 88·054 | 104·134 | 23·237 | 29·204 |
| Bexley | 67·800 | 80·499 | 13·412 | 16·715 |
| Brent | 108·138 | 124·847 | 35·191 | 42·506 |
| Bromley | 79·378 | 92·214 | 20·353 | 25·580 |
| Croydon | 102·781 | 120·350 | 27·523 | 34·025 |
| Ealing | 100·586 | 119·871 | 30·872 | 37·725 |
| Enfield | 88·524 | 105·597 | 21·500 | 26·679 |
| Haringey | 79·308 | 93·711 | 32·528 | 40·378 |
| Harrow | 65·387 | 75·400 | 13·080 | 15·983 |
| Havering | 71·015 | 84·563 | 13·710 | 17·183 |
| Hillingdon | 69·110 | 82·574 | 16·047 | 20·284 |
| Hounslow | 68·774 | 82·443 | 18·643 | 23·032 |
| Kingston-upon-Thames | 36·275 | 43·282 | 10·989 | 13·011 |
| Merton | 47·164 | 54·705 | 15·345 | 18·567 |
| Newham | 98·510 | 118·059 | 31·636 | 38·858 |
| Redbridge | 71·225 | 85·178 | 17·082 | 21·655 |
| Richmond-upon-Thames | 35·997 | 41·859 | 13·677 | 17·113 |
| Sutton | 47·633 | 56·689 | 12·233 | 15·251 |
| Waltham Forest | 81·744 | 96·671 | 27·274 | 33·156 |
value. By contrast, in the United Kingdom the Government have offered wider forms of assistance of which right to buy, shared ownership, homesteading and licensed development schemes involve substantial discounts to first-time buyers.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the number of the people who bought homes for the first time in 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990.
The number of first-time buyers in Great Britain is estimated at 630,000 in 1987, 770,000 in 1988 and 640,000 in 1989. Figures for the whole of 1990 are not yet available, but in the first three quarters of 1990 it is estimated that there were some 450,000 first-time buyers.