To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Valuation Office Agency has spent on the Automated Valuation Model (AVM) for domestic dwellings to date; what the purpose of the AVM for domestic dwellings is; and which databases use (a) AVM technology and (b) data analysed by the AVM system. (317808)

From 2003 to 31 January 2010, total expenditure by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) on Automated Valuation Model (AVM) technology, to support a range of its activities associated with domestic property valuation, has amounted to approximately £14 million.

The VOA originally developed AVM technology to support work on the 2007 Council Tax Revaluation in England, which was postponed in 2005, however the technology has since been used to develop a council tax banding support tool to assist with maintenance of current council tax valuation lists.

AVM technology makes use of data drawn from the VOA’s digitised database of property records. The database itself does not use AVM technology.

No analysed data are passed from the AVM systems to the VOA's digitised database of property records.