The following table shows the number of local authority right to buy homes sold in rural areas, the average discount and market value of these sales, and the discount as a proportion of the average market value, in each year since 1997-98:
Number Average discount (£) Average market value (£) Discount as a percentage of value 1997-98 12,820 1998-99 11,420 21,000 43,000 49 1999-2000 15,250 22,000 47,000 47 2000-01 12,840 22,000 49,000 45 2001-02 12,450 22,000 50,000 43 2002-03 14,590 23,000 57,000 41 2003-04 13,950 23,000 60,000 37 2004-05 8,990 22,000 63,000 35 2005-06 5,190 24,000 77,000 32 2006-07 3,280 25,000 88,000 29 2007-08 2,000 26,000 98,000 27 2008-09 420 27,000 101,000 26
These figures reflect the sales of local authority properties through the right to buy scheme in the 178 local authorities defined as rural by the Defra rural definition (2004).
The figures are from quarterly P1B returns from local authorities to CLG. Number of sales and financial data from 2005-06 onwards include imputation for a small number of missing returns. Prior to this, the figures on average discounts, average market values, and discount as a percentage of market value in rural areas are based on the reported figures, and do not include imputation for missing returns. Financial details on right to buy sales are not available prior to 1998-99.
Right to buy and preserved right to buy sales can also be made by registered social landlords (RSLs). Data on RSL RTB sales are collected by the Tenant Services Authority (TSA), but these figures are not available by the spatial level required to provide estimates of RTB sales in rural areas. Typically LA sales make up around 80 per cent. of total RTB sales in England.