The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham): The Government are determined that tenants who are eligible to exercise the right to buy their home and are able to afford it should be made aware of the significantly increased discount of up to £75,000 now available. In order to protect tenants' personal data, the department was rightly not able to use personal address data supplied by local authorities and housing associations to mail tenants directly. The contractor therefore used other database information to help target potential eligible tenants, as is the norm for direct mail marketing. The estimated total number of tenants in London sent a letter from the right to buy team, by main post code, was as follows:
We do not hold this information by local authority area.
Landlords have a statutory duty to inform their tenants about the changes. However, the department's research on previous changes to the scheme suggested that only a third of tenants were aware of those changes. It would be unfair if some tenants were not able to exercise their legal right to buy because of local councils keeping them in the dark and failing to promote the reinvigorated scheme.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have received about the consultation undertaken with residents of the Barkantine, Kingsbridge, Samuda and St John's estates in relation to the takeover of Island Homes by One Housing Group.[HL2715]
Baroness Hanham: The Government have received representations on this matter from local residents and local representatives in the area. The Government have encouraged all the parties involved to continue their discussions to try and find an equitable solution.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many tenants served on (1) the board of the Tenants Services Authority, and (2) the regulatory committee of the Homes and Communities Agency.[HL2716]
Baroness Hanham: All members of the Tenant Services Authority's Board and the Homes and Communities Agency's Regulation Committee were appointed on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.
The Homes and Communities Agency does not collect information about the housing tenures of its non-executives and neither did the Tenant Services Authority up until its abolition. However any members of the Homes and Communities Agency Regulation Committee (and previously the Tenant Services Authority Board) who are tenants of registered social housing providers would be expected to declare this on their register of interests. No member of the Homes and Communities Agency Regulation Committee has declared such an interest. At the point of its abolition, two members of the Tenant Services Authority Board had declared that they were tenants of registered social housing providers.
Hansard Link: Housing
