§ Mr. Michael McNair-Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether his Department has carried out any studies to see how successful shared ownership schemes have been in widening access to home ownership.
§ Mr. StanleyThe results of a survey carried out by the Department into the pioneering shared ownership schemes undertaken by 11 local authorities in the late 1970's are being published today in a report entitled "Shared Ownership: A Stepping Stone to Home Ownership". This survey clearly shows the major role shared ownership can play in bringing home ownership to people who otherwise could not afford it. The majority of the shared owners interviewed were in manual occupations; about half had146W previously tried to buy a home outright but had failed. Yet by the time of this survey over a quarter of the participants in these schemes had already achieved outright ownership and nearly three quarters of the remainder intended to do so. Since about 60 per cent. of them were previously public sector tenants, the shared ownership schemes had released council accommodation for others on their waiting lists. But most significant of all is the verdict of the participants themselves—almost 80 per cent. thought they had done the right thing in buying on a shared ownership basis. With the improvements that have been made in shared ownership leases in the Housing Act 1980, which was enacted after the shared ownership schemes in this survey were completed, the degree of satisfaction with shared ownership today could well be even higher.