Right to Buy Scheme: Rural Areas Grant Shapps To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many right to buy sales there were in rural areas in each year since 1997; what the average discount available to buyers was; and what the average discount was as a percentage of the value of such property. John Healey 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.