Vol. 543 No. 4
126 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the annual cost of rental subvention payments under the shared ownership scheme; the number of ben eficiaries of the subvention; the annual cost of other recurrent expenditure associated with the shared ownership scheme. [27384/01]
The shared ownership scheme, which offers a graduated progression to home ownership for those who cannot afford to undertake full home ownership at once, is administered by local authorities. Under the scheme, the applicant is required to contribute at least 40% of the value of the house and to pay a rent related to the remainder of the house value which will have been contributed by the local authority. Where the benefiting person's household income in the preceding tax year was £20,000 or less, an annual rent subsidy, ranging from £1,000 to £2,000, is available from the local authority provided that the subsidy does not reduce the rent payable below £1 per week.
My Department recoups, on foot of claims from local authorities, the full amount of rent subsidy allowed to applicants. Details of the total recouped by my Department to local authorities and the number of cases involved in these recoupments for the years 1997-2000 are set out in the table hereunder:
Share Ownership Rent Subsidy
|
Number of Cases |
Total Recouped to Local Authority |
|
|
£ |
||
|
1997 |
2,201 |
624,973 |
|
1998 |
3,840 |
1,347,390 |
|
1999 |
3,967 |
1,241,882 |
|
2000 |
2,072 |
864,254 |
