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Affordable Housing

Volume 506: debated on Tuesday 23 February 2010

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many Homebuy providers there are in each region. (316739)

The following table shows the number of providers who have been allocated funding for Homebuy schemes within the 2008-11 National Affordable Housing Programme.

Region

Number of providers

East Midlands

39

East of England

48

London

54

North East

21

North West

37

South East

52

South West

30

West Midlands

34

Yorkshire and Humberside

36

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on the Rent to HomeBuy scheme in each region on the latest date for which figures are available. (316759)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 9 February 2010, Official Report, columns 866-68W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what the average income of a Rent to HomeBuy (a) tenant and (b) purchaser was in each of the last three years; (316760)

(2) how many homes were rented under the Rent to HomeBuy scheme in each region in each of the last three years;

(3) how many active tenancies there are under the Rent to HomeBuy scheme in each Government Office region.

Rent to HomeBuy was launched in July 2008. Data on the number of homes rented, active tenancies and the average income of tenants and purchasers are not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many Rent to HomeBuy completions there have been in 2009-10; and how many households have purchased a stake in their home under that scheme in 2009-10. (316761)

Provisional data from the Homes and Communities Agency show that there were 1,899 Rent to HomeBuy completions up to end September 2009.

Data are not held centrally on the number of purchases under Rent to HomeBuy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the term Homebuy is monitored as part of (a) his Department’s media monitoring and (b) media monitoring undertaken by a private consultancy on behalf of his Department. (316933)

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many officials in his Department administer the Homebuy scheme. (316968)

The homebuy scheme is administered by the Homes and Communities Agency on behalf of the Department. There are nine full-time equivalent employees working on low cost home ownership policy, including delivery of the homebuy scheme, within the Department.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many times the eligibility criteria for participation in the Homebuy scheme have changed since the inception of the scheme; and if he will list each such change. (316969)

The homebuy scheme was introduced in 2006. Households with an income of up to £60,000 who were unable to buy a home on the open market without assistance, were eligible to apply for assistance. The basic eligibility criteria has not changed.

From 2006-08 priority for support was given to social tenants, prospective social tenants, key workers in the health, education and community safety sectors in London, the South East and the East of England, and those identified by regional housing boards. Some regional boards set lower income caps for support. From 2008 priority was given, in order, to social tenants, prospective social tenants, key workers in all regions and any other first-time buyers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which programmes are included in the Homebuy scheme; how much has been allocated to each such programme to date; and how many dwellings have been sold under each such programme to date. (316974)

The following products are included in the Homebuy scheme; OpenMarket HomeBuy, NewBuild HomeBuy, Social HomeBuy, HomeBuy Direct, and Rent to HomeBuy.

The allocations and provisional completions for each product are listed in the following tables.

Allocations

£

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

Open Market HomeBuy

78,890,252

84,507,252

212,919,256

New Build HomeBuy

403,234,599

373,239,643

203,239,702

Social HomeBuy

536,400

1,912,175

973,175

HomeBuy Direct

0

0

0

Rent to HomeBuy

0

0

123,526,245

482,661,251

459,659,070

540,658,378

Completions

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

Open Market HomeBuy

2,337

2,876

6,216

New Build HomeBuy

3,023

10,131

8,898

Social HomeBuy

47

157

93

HomeBuy Direct

0

0

0

Rent to HomeBuy

0

0

1,173

5,407

13,164

16,380

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much funding his Department has allocated to the Homebuy scheme in financial year 2009-10 to date; how much such funding it expects to allocate in financial years (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15; and how much such funding it expects to allocate beyond financial year 2014-15; (317007)

(2) how much funding his Department has allocated to low cost income ownership programmes in financial year 2009-10 to date; how much such funding it expects to allocate in financial years (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15; and how much such funding it expects to allocate beyond financial year 2014-15.

From 1 April 2009 to 30 December 2009 the Homes and Communities Agency has allocated £1,082 million for Homebuy and other low cost home ownership products within their Affordable Housing Programme.

Allocations for the Affordable Housing Programme 2008-11 are made as part of the Homes and Communities continuous market engagement process. Future estimated levels of allocations beyond 2010-11 will be dependent upon the outcome of the next spending review.