This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'Midlands VRTB Pilot'.


Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local 
Government
Fry Building 
2 Marsham Street 
London 
SW1P 4DF
T 030 3444 0000
www.gov.uk/mhclg
 
Keith Lisle
Date: 7 November 2019
 
 
Dear Keith Lisle
 
Freedom of Information Act 2000 -  4623704
 
Thank you for your request for information, which we received on 21 October 
2019 and processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
 
You requested: 
"1. Up to 21/10/2019, how many applications have been registered 
on the Homes England's IT system? 
2. Up to 21/10/2019, how many applications have had their application cancelled? 
4. Up to 21/10/2019 how many property sales have completed and now owned by 
the tenant. 
5. How much of the allocated £200,000,000 has now been spent 
6. Will there be second offer for the unsuccessful tenants from the first Midlands 
VRTB pilot ballot? 
7. Is the new shared ownership Right to Buy (SORTB) announced by Robert Jenrick 
going to replace the right to buy scheme?
".
 
I can confirm that the information requested is held by the Ministry of Housing, 
Communities and Local Government and we are able to provide you with all this 
information. I have detailed below the information that is being released to you.
1. Up to 21/10/2019, how many applications have been registered on the 
Homes England's IT system? 
 
 
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government does not directly 
capture data on how many applications have been sent to housing associations 
participating in the pilot. We rely on housing associations to input this data into 
Homes England’s IT system. 
 
As of 21 October 2019, a total of 3,864 applications had been entered into the 
system. 
 
2. Up to 21/10/2019, how many applications have had their application 
cancelled? 
 

TEMPLATE FRAMEWORK – NOT TO BE USED FOR SUBMISSION 
OF DRAFT ANSWERS
As of 21 October 2019, of the tenants who have made an application to their housing 
association (where this data has been supplied to us by providers), 1,552 have either 
cancelled their application, or else their application had been terminated by their 
housing association. Reasons for termination may include a tenant not meeting the 
eligibility criteria for the pilot, or a tenant withdrawing their application for any reason, 
for example if they cannot afford the purchase.  
 
We rely on housing associations to input this data into Homes England’s IT system, 
which can take some time, so this figure is a provisional estimate only. 
 
4. Up to 21/10/2019 how many property sales have completed and now owned 
by the tenant. 
 
 
As of 21 October 2019, there have been 772 sales under the pilot. It takes time for 
an application to go through each stage of the home-buying process. We are aware 
that a larger number of applications have reached the valuation and offer stages of 
the process. 
 
5. Up 21/10/2019 how much of the £200,000,000 for the Midlands VRTB pilot 
been spent. 
 
 
As of 21 October 2019, £47.2m has been spent on funding the VRTB discounts to 
tenants. This figure captures the money paid out when sales have been completed.  
 
6. Will there be second offer for the unsuccessful tenants from the first 
Midlands VRTB pilot ballot?
 
 
The Government is closely monitoring the progress of the Midlands pilot, and the 
spending of the budget. There are no plans to run a second ballot – if this position 
changes, the Government will make an announcement.   
7. Is the new shared ownership Right to Buy (SORTB) announced by Robert 
Jenrick going to replace the right to buy scheme?
 
The Right to Shared Ownership (RTSO) is a new Government policy that was 
announced on 17 October 2019. It does not replace the Right to Buy.  On the 
Voluntary Right to Buy (VRTB), we will conduct a full evaluation of the pilot after it 
completes and future policy decisions will be taken in light of that evaluation. 
 
Complaints procedure
 
If you are unhappy with this response, we will review it and report back to you. (This 
is called an internal review.) If you want us to do this, let us know by return email 
within two months of receiving this response. You can also ask by letter addressed 
to:
 
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Knowledge and Information Access Team
4th Floor SE, Fry Building
2 Marsham Street
London, SW1P 4DF

TEMPLATE FRAMEWORK – NOT TO BE USED FOR SUBMISSION 
OF DRAFT ANSWERS
 
If you are unhappy with the outcome of this internal review, you can ask the 
independent Information Commissioner to investigate. The Information 
Commissioner can be contacted at email address xxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx or use their 
online form at ico.org.uk/concerns or call them on 0303 123 1113.
Yours faithfully,
MHCLG FOI Team