To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much in capital receipts from the sale of council houses in South Manchester under the right to buy legislation has (a) been retained by central Government and (b) been returned to the local authority (i) since the right to buy legislation was introduced and (ii) since 1997; (109073)

Central Government began receiving housing receipts in 2004-05. Before then, with-debt local authorities were required to set aside a proportion of their housing receipts. The receipts set-aside could only be used for the repayment of the authority’s debt. From 2004-05 set-aside no longer applied to Right to Buy (RTB) receipts as the “pooling” regime was introduced to ensure fair distribution of receipts and investment across the country, whereby local authorities paid over or “pooled” a proportion of their housing receipts to the Secretary of State to support wider housing investment.

The proportion of the capital receipt set-aside or pooled is 75 per cent. for a dwelling and 50 per cent. for a non-dwelling asset. The local authority is free to use the remaining 25 per cent. or 50 per cent. respectively for any capital purpose they see fit.

Data formerly collected about amounts set-aside and data collected about the value of receipts pooled by the Secretary of State does not separately identify the value of the set-aside or pooled capital receipt derived from RTB disposals. The data cover all housing set aside/pooled receipts. These include receipts arising from the sales of vacant housing land, shops, community centres, and garages that are on estates owned by local authorities, and receipts arising from the sales of dwellings made under powers other than Right to Buy.

The following table shows total receipts set aside and pooled for the whole of Manchester, since the Department does not collect data for individual areas such as South Manchester; nor does it collect data on the amount of receipts retained by local authorities. The table also shows the amount of financial support Manchester has received for its capital expenditure programme. This does not include support to Registered Social Landlords who all have built new homes in Manchester. It also includes the amount of revenue subsidy Manchester receives for running its own housing stock. Pre 1995-96 data is available only at disproportionate cost.