HC Deb 31 January 1991 vol 184 cc563-4W
Mr. David Porter

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of schemes to assist first-time buyers with below-market value homes(a) in the European Community and (b) in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Yeo

The Department is aware of several schemes for assisting house purchase deployed in European Community countries. Most involve assistance towards loan repayments; we are not aware of any schemes in which property can he purchased at less than full market

The 1990–91 and 1991–92 Standard Spending Assessments for Education and Social Services and for each borough in Greater London in £ million.
£ million
Authority 1990–91 Education SSA 1991–92 Education SSA 1990–91 Social Services SSA 1991–92 Social Services SSA
City of London 0.824 0.814 0.396 0.500
Camden 52.762 61.062 33.809 41.584
Greenwich 82.257 98.038 25.451 32.165
Hackney 91.828 106.800 45.074 55.504
Hammersmith and Fulham 45.602 51.587 32.215 38.937
Islington 64.211 76.597 34.146 43.015
Kensington and Chelsea 29.783 34.857 23.497 30.155
Lambeth 105.484 124.829 57.262 71.209
Lewisham 86.010 102.429 35.035 43.806
Southwark 85.168 102.708 40.813 51.017
Tower Hamlets 91.292 112.110 32.414 41.015
Wandsworth 84.149 97.374 43.829 54.869
Westminster 44.456 50.044 34.161 43.073
Barking and Dagenham 48.338 56.906 14.943 18.288
Barnet 88.054 104.134 23.237 29.204
Bexley 67.800 80.499 13.412 16.715
Brent 108.138 124.847 35.191 42.506
Bromley 79.378 92.214 20.353 25.580
Croydon 102.781 120.350 27.523 34.025
Ealing 100.586 119.871 30.872 37.725
Enfield 88.524 105.597 21.500 26.679
Haringey 79.308 93.711 32.528 40.378
Harrow 65.387 75.400 13.080 15.983
Havering 71.015 84.563 13.710 17.183
Hillingdon 69.110 82.574 16.047 20.284
Hounslow 68.774 82.443 18.643 23.032
Kingston-upon-Thames 36.275 43.282 10.989 13.011
Merton 47.164 54.705 15.345 18.567
Newham 98.510 118.059 31.636 38.858
Redbridge 71.225 85.178 17.082 21.655
Richmond-upon-Thames 35.997 41.859 13.677 17.113
Sutton 47.633 56.689 12.233 15.251
Waltham Forest 81.744 96.671 27.274 33.156

value. By contrast, in the United Kingdom the Government have offered wider forms of assistance of which right to buy, shared ownership, homesteading and licensed development schemes involve substantial discounts to first-time buyers.

Mr. Fearn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the number of the people who bought homes for the first time in 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990.

Mr. Yeo

The number of first-time buyers in Great Britain is estimated at 630,000 in 1987, 770,000 in 1988 and 640,000 in 1989. Figures for the whole of 1990 are not yet available, but in the first three quarters of 1990 it is estimated that there were some 450,000 first-time buyers.