Written question asked by Helen Jones (Labour) on Wednesday, 19 October 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 24 October 2011. It was answered by Grant Shapps (Conservative) on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Social Rented Housing

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to his written ministerial statement of 10 October 2011, Official Report, columns 1-5WS, on the work of the Department (Conference Recess), what estimate he has made of the number of households with an income of over £100,000 living in social housing in each local authority area.

Answer: [holding answer 24 October 2011]: It is estimated that in social rented housing in England there are between 1,000 and 6,000 households where the household reference person and partner have a combined income over £100,000 per annum. There will be other cases where households in the social rented sector have total incomes exceeding £100,000—for example because of the earnings of flat sharers, lodgers, or grown-up children—but such cases are not counted here. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of this estimate by local authority because of the sample sizes of the sources, the English Housing survey and the Family Resources survey.I am minded to introduce a ““pay to stay”” scheme for social tenants on incomes greater than £100,000 who want to stay in their properties. We will be publishing a consultation on this in due course, which will consider how best to configure the scheme and ensure it is appropriately targeted at genuine high earners.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 76444; 534 c256W
Session: 2010-12
Related items: Work of the Department (Conference Recess)
Monday, 10 October 2011
Written statements
House of Commons
Subjects: Social rented housing
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk