§ Mr. Frenchasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people have received assistance from the Government's home loan scheme in (a) Gloucester and (b) England and Wales for the most recent year for which figures are available; how this compares with previous years; what proportion of first-time buyers this represents; and what action the Government takes to promote the scheme.
§ Mr. WaldegraveInformation on the take-up of the home loan scheme is not available for individual areas.
The take-up of the scheme for the last five years is shown in the table:
Financial year Number of first-time buyers benefiting 1982–83 6,277 1983–84 4,240 1984–85 3,580 1985–86 3,520 1986–87 1,660 The number of people receiving assistance in the financial year 1986–87 represents about 0.25 per cent. of first-time buyers who received advances from banks and building societies.
The Government make a full range of promotional material for the scheme available through banks, building societies and other mortgage lenders and savings institutions.