[holding answer 8 December 2009]: We have assumed that the number of homes in rural areas which have changed ownership is made up of private sector sales and LA and RSL dwellings that have been sold to sitting tenants.
The estimated number of homes in rural areas which have changed ownership in each year since 1997 is presented as follows:
Private sector sales Social homes sold by LAs and RSLs to sitting tenants 1997 427,317 15,890 1998 405,767 14,540 1999 463,149 19,970 2000 426,018 16,750 2001 462,657 16,520 2002 489,901 19,640 2003 438,270 19,560 2004 443,117 12,500 2005 370,601 6,920 2006 470,621 5,020 2007 451,438 3,170 2008 234,041 820
Figures on private sector sales are from Land Registry data, and are based on changes of ownership of properties at market value price. Sales below market value (such as right to buy) are excluded from the private sector sales. Sales at under £1,000 and sales above £20 million have been excluded. Some properties may have been sold more than once during the period.
Figures on social homes sold are from quarterly P1B returns to CLG from local authorities, and from regulatory and statistical returns (RSR) to the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) from registered social landlords. They include sales to sitting tenants through right to buy, preserved right to buy, right to acquire, rent to mortgage, and voluntary purchase grant. Large-scale voluntary transfers (LSVTs) of local authority stock to RSLs are not included in the figures.
Local authorities that are classed as rural under the DEFRA rural codes have been included and local authorities classed as urban by DEFRA have been filtered out. Some 178 local authorities have been defined as rural by the DEFRA rural definition (2004).