Housing plan take-up 'laughable'

The Tories say housing association tenants are being left behind

Just 88 homes have been bought using a multi-million pound government scheme aimed at helping people onto the property ladder, say the Conservatives.

The record on the Social Homebuy scheme is "laughable" and the government is well short of its target, they say.

The scheme allows housing association and council tenants to buy a discounted stake in their homes.

The government dismissed the criticism as "utter nonsense" and said it was a limited pilot project, and one of many.

In a Parliamentary answer, housing minister Yvette Cooper said 85 housing association and three council tenants had so far bought homes through the Social Homebuy scheme, which was announced in 2005.

Low-cost homes

It is one of three "homebuy" schemes which ministers hope will help 120,000 households into low-cost home ownership by 2010.

The Conservatives say it is particularly important as more and more council properties are being transferred to housing associations where tenants do not enjoy the same "Right to Buy" privileges.

While we are pledging at least £8bn for over 180,000 new affordable homes, all the Tories want to do is spread misinformation about a limited pilot scheme Iain Wright Junior Housing Minister

Shadow Housing Minister Grant Shapps said the government should explain why only 77 of 1,400 housing associations had taken it up.

He said selling only 88 homes in 18 months was "laughable" and described it as a "pretty pathetic pilot" if only 77 housing associations had taken it up.

"They should either dump it or do something better," he said.

"Something isn't working here. Even if this is supposed to be a pilot or a trial, you would expect to see better results than 88 homes in a year and a half."

'Individual aspirations'

He said the government had "failed to help people buy their own homes" and added: "Either they are serious about it, or they are not".

In answers to Parliamentary questions, Ms Cooper said most of the 88 sales to date had come from the "first phase" of participating landlords - most of whom joined in late 2006.

More had joined the scheme in April, but sales could take months to reach completion, she added.

But the government says Social Homebuy is just one of several schemes which helped 35,000 into home ownership over the past two years.

They said £900,000 had been spent on the scheme so far and accused Mr Shapps of trying to block affordable homes in his own constituency.

Junior Housing Minister Iain Wright said: "This is utter nonsense. While we are pledging at least £8bn for over 180,000 new affordable homes, all the Tories want to do is spread misinformation about a limited pilot scheme.

"So far we have helped 80,000 households since 1997 into home ownership, and we will help thousands more.

"If the Tories want to get serious about supporting home ownership, they need to stop trying to block more affordable homes."