HL Deb 17 February 1998 vol 586 cc31-2WA
Lord Selkirk of Douglas

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many public sector houses have been sold in Scotland since 1945; how many of these were sold to sitting tenants; how many of the sales were by the rent-to-mortgage scheme; and what percentage of Scottish households are currently in home ownership.[HL499]

Lord Sewel

Information on the sale of public sector houses prior to 1973 is not centrally available. Between January 1973 and March 1997, a total of 393,273 public sector house sales were made known to the Scottish Office.

Information on the status of the purchaser is not available prior to April 1979. Of the 387,955 house sales between April 1979 and March 1997 which were made known to the Scottish Office, 341,063 were sales to sitting tenants.

There have been 1,042 sales recorded under the rent-to-mortgage scheme since its introduction in 1989 to the end of March 1997.

It is estimated that 59.2 per cent. of dwellings were owner occupied at 31 December 1996.

Lord Selkirk of Douglas

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many housing association units there are in Scotland; how many of these are for rent; how many for low-cost home ownership; and what percentage each figure represents of the total. [HL500]

Lord Sewel

In Scotland, as at 31 March 1997, there were 115,078 separate dwellings owned by housing associations registered with Scottish Homes. Of this total, 108,515 units were for rent and 6,563 were for low cost home ownership through shared ownership arrangements. These figures represent 94 per cent. and 6 per cent. of the total.