Leasehold dwellings – England, 2016 to 2017
On 25 October 2018 the MHCLG published statistics which provide an estimate of the number of leasehold dwellings in England. In 2016-17, there were an estimated 4.3 million leasehold dwellings in England. This equates to 18% of the English housing stock. Of these, 2.3 million dwellings (54%) were in the owner occupied sector and 1.7 million (40%) were privately owned and let in the private rented sector. The remaining 244,000 (6%) were dwellings owned by social landlords and let in the social rented sector. Two-thirds (67%, 2.9 million) of the leasehold dwellings in England were flats; 33% (1.4 million) were houses.

These figures (which are published as experimental official statistics, ie ‘new official statistics undergoing evaluation’) are unchanged from 2015-16, when this estimate was last produced. For the full release, click here

Voluntary Right to Buy for housing association tenants – England
On 25 October 2018 the House of Commons Library published a briefing providing background on the government policy to extend the Right to Buy to assured tenants of housing associations on a voluntary basis. No implementation date for full roll-out has been announced. A large regional pilot scheme in the Midlands was launched on 16 August 2018. The government has said that the impact of the pilot scheme will be assessed before decisions are made on the next steps. For the briefing, click here

Forces Help to Buy Scheme quarterly statistics: July to September 2018
On 25 October 2018 the Ministry of Defence published a quarterly release providing summary statistics on applications, payments and purchases made under the Forces Help to Buy (FHTB) scheme. Between 1 July to 30 September 2018:

• 1,716 First Stage applications were received.
• 828 Second Stage applications were received.
• 847 payments were made to Service personnel.

Since the Scheme began in April 2014:

• 33,476 First Stage FHTB applications have been received.
• 19,104 of these applications have proceeded to the Second Stage.
• Payment has been made to around 16,100 applicants, totalling around £242 million, an average of approximately £15,000 per claim.

For the full statistics, click here