HC Deb 03 March 2003 vol 400 cc861-2W
Ms Oona King

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many homebuy loans were made in each local authority in London in each year since the scheme's introduction. [99172]

Mr. McNulty

Tabled as follows is the breakdown of homebuy loans that have been made in each local authority area in London since the scheme was first introduced on 1 April 1999.

Loans
Sponsoring authority 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–031
Barking and Dagenham 6 18 15 2
Barnet 12 20 18 8
Bexley 0 0 5 8
Brent 21 34 29 28
Bromley 8 21 16 14
Camden 9 12 17 12
Croydon 15 17 15 10
Ealing 9 32 18 6
Enfield 8 18 11 11
Greenwich 0 19 29 16
Hackney 19 39 17 32
Hammersmith and Fulham 27 31 17 15
Haringey 19 32 26 22
Harrow 4 11 8 2
Havering 0 7 10 7
Hillingdon 7 25 16 5
Hounslow 11 27 10 6
Islington 14 13 13 9
Kensington and Chelsea 14 5 0 0
Kingston upon Thames 6 3 6 5
Lambeth 20 16 17 17
Lewisham 22 23 13 19
Merton 6 8 13 4
Newham 57 42 0 8
Redbridge 0 9 0 17
Richmond upon Thames 10 6 6 1
Southwark 19 19 15 22
Button 1 7 8 2
Tower Hamlets 32 17 21 6

Loans
Sponsoring authority 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–031
Waltham Forest 17 23 11 9
Wandsworth 33 59 50 6
Westminster 31 36 33 15
City of London 1 2 5 8
1To 31 January

Ms Oona King

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many homebuy loans were made to(a) those in social housing, (b) those on housing waiting/transfer lists and (c) key workers in London in each year since the scheme's introduction. [99173]

Mr. McNulty

A total of 2,529 people were helped into home ownership using the homebuy scheme during the first three years of its operation. The following table shows the breakdown between those from rented properties and those from the waiting list where available.

1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02
On the waiting list 177 343 346
In social housing 355 569 519
Not available 394 584 449
Total 926 1,496 1,314

To be eligible for a homebuy loan, a potential purchaser must either be currently in social housing, or be on the housing waiting list and be recommended by the local authority as being in housing need.

Information on the number of homebuy loans made to key workers is not collected. The starter home initiative is helping key workers into home ownership through equity loans based on the homebuy model and shared ownership schemes. To the end of January 2003 around 1,000 key workers in London had purchased homes with Starter Home Initiative assistance.

Ms Oona King

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of introducing(a) low tranche (below 25 per cent.) shared ownership schemes and (b) lower tranche (below 75 per cent.) homebuy schemes. [99176]

Mr. McNulty

As announced by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister on 5 February and published in "Sustainable Communities: building for the future", the Housing Corporation has agreed to lead a task force which will look at existing programmes that support sustainable home ownership. This will include both the shared ownership and homebuy schemes. The task force will examine the scope for better targeting and design of the current home ownership initiatives to ensure they are cost effective and that the home ownership is sustainable.

Forward to