HC Deb 19 July 1999 vol 335 cc380-1W
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many officials in his Department are working on leasehold reform proposals. [91260]

Mr. Raynsford

Currently, two officials work purely on leasehold reform and a further seven devote a significant proportion of their time to this area of work. We plan to expand this team further.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the number of leasehold properties as a percentage of the total. [91261]

Mr. Raynsford

The most recent estimates from the Survey of English Housing are that there were approximately 1.78 million owner-occupiers in England in 1997–98 who were leaseholders, representing 12.8 per cent. of all owner-occupiers.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what progress has been made on his leasehold reform proposals. [91259]

Mr. Raynsford

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Poole (Mr. Syms) on 13 July 1999,Official Report, column 139.

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