§ Mr. DevlinTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to extend home ownership in Wales.
§ Mr. Nicholas BennettIn Wales, our right-to-buy policy has been extremely successful. In the last 10 years, well over 80,000 local authority dwellings have been sold and owner occupation has increased from 62 per cent. in 1981 to 71 per cent. earlier this year—higher than any other part of the United Kingdom.
Building on this, last year we introduced an experimental flexi-ownership scheme which enables tenants of the Development Board for Rural Wales to buy their homes at a weekly outlay broadly the same as their existing rent. I am very encouraged by the success of the scheme: 17 per cent. of eligible tenants have expressed an interest and 14 sales have already been completed which, at 2 per cent. of the eligible stock, is a little more than the initial take-up of right-to-buy. Within a few months, when current applications have been processed, I expect completed sales to total about 5 per cent. of the eligible stock. We are considering whether this scheme can be extended to other public sector tenants in Wales.
The Department will continue to work with local authorities to foster low-cost home ownership schemes, encouraging them especially to work with housing associations and the private sector to provide homes affordable by first time buyers. Housing for Wales is also making a significant contribution to low-cost home ownership particularly through its shared ownership programme, targeted mainly at rural areas.