§ Lord Monkswellasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will list, for each year since 1979, the amount paid out of public funds in discounts from the market value of homes purchased under the "right to buy" legislation.
Lord LucasRight to buy discounts are not payments made out of public funds, they are receipts foregone.
Figures for discounts given to council tenants exercising their right to buy were not collected by the department before 1994, nor were such data collected in respect of new town tenants. However, information is available for the value of discounts allowed from all sales of council dwellings for owner occupation in England, and this is shown in the table:
Value of discounts allowed on completed disposals by local authorities and New Towns 1979 to 1995 Year £ million 1979 149.4 1980 482.0 1981 665.6 1982 1,369.7 1983 981.6 1984 900.4 1985 945.8 1986 1,022.4 1987 1,343.7 1988 2,443.9 1989 2,916.1 1990 2,142.0 1991 1,239.4 1992 988.4 1993 932.4 1994 969.6 1995 702.3 Total dwelling sales by local authorities and New Towns for owner-occupation since the introduction of RTB in October 1980, to the end of 1995, was about 1,450 million, and 87 per cent. of such sales resulted from tenants exercising their right to buy.