§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out the basis for the proposed554W population threshold to be used as the main criterion in defining a rural area for the purposes of the rural exemption for housing association tenants from the purchase grant scheme; and if he will make a statement. [5010]
§ Mr. ClappisonThe new purchase grant scheme will allow more housing association tenants the choice of buying their own home at a discount funded by a Government grant. Landlords will receive the full market value of any property sold under the scheme, and will have to set aside sale proceeds to provide replacement properties to help other families in need.
We announced in last year's rural White Paper our proposal to exclude small rural villages from the scheme. The aim of the rural exemption is to protect the supply of social housing in small rural villages where there would be a particular difficulty in securing replacement homes. In larger towns there is greater scope for a replacement home to be provided either through development or the purchase of existing properties.
We have consulted on the detailed proposed designations for every county and area of England using a population guideline of 3,000 people. We believe that this identifies those small settlements that need to be protected, and it is consistent with the approach of our rural housing programmes. We indicated that we would consider cases referred to us where a settlement's population exceeded 3,000, but we would want to establish that there was a special reason why the settlement concerned faced similar problems to smaller settlements in replacing homes sold.
We expect to announce the outcome of the consultation exercise shortly.
Mr right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales has also consulted on a different approach to be used in Wales.