Research and analysis

Voluntary Right to Buy Midlands pilot annual data release: technical notes

Updated 23 February 2023

Applies to England

1. Data collection

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) uses data from the following sources in the Data Release:

• Participating housing associations: All providers taking part in the Voluntary Right to Buy (VRtB) Midlands pilot were asked to complete forms through DELTA, the Department’s online data collection system
• Homes England (the delivery partner for the Midlands VRtB pilot): A proportion of the information was transferred to DELTA for data providers to check and update where appropriate

Since the Midlands pilot was launched in August 2018, Homes England has collected information on sales and terminations through its Investment Management System (IMS) on behalf of DLUHC. This information is updated regularly by providers and is periodically reported back to the Department.

In October 2022, DLUHC opened the Replacement Data collection on the Department’s DELTA system to collect data on replacement from providers participating in the scheme. This data collection comprises of all sales and replacements from the launch of the Midlands pilot to 30 September 2022. Collections will continue to take place on an annual basis.

2. Data quality

Assessment of data quality

In 2015, the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) published a regulatory standard for the quality assurance of administrative data. To assess the quality of the data provided for this release, the department has followed that standard.

The data used in this release is classified as ‘Low’ risk in terms of the data collection process, with a ‘Low’ public profile because a reasonably small number of housing associations are involved in the data collection process. A large section of the data has also been collected and scrutinised by Homes England, providing a high-quality data source against which to validate the data comprising this Data Release. Numerous checks have been made on data provided on Homes England’s IMS and on data submitted through the Department’s DELTA system by housing associations.

Data supplied to DLUHC was checked thoroughly for errors and validated against data held by Homes England’s IMS. Where inconsistencies between the two data sources were identified, housing associations were contacted to confirm the correct figures and where appropriate, incorrect data entry was amended. These checks included flagging and checking any changes made to the characteristics of homes sold from those entered on Homes England’s IMS, as well as data points that fell outside expected ranges for data not held previously.

Operational context and administrative data collection

The collection includes data from the 42 housing associations that participated in the VRtB Midlands Pilot and made sales. The Department does not have full oversight of their systems and quality procedures; clear guidance and documentation was provided at the pilot’s launch and via the DELTA data collection system.

QA principles, standards and checks by data suppliers

As part of the data collection on DELTA, pilot housing associations were asked to detail the quality assurance checks they had made on their administrative data:

• 1 provider did not inform us what checks were conducted on their administrative data
• 2 providers had not made additional checks on their administrative data
• 13 providers had made random checks on their administrative data as part of the collection
• 19 providers had made periodic checks on their administrative data prior to the collection
• 7 providers had undertaken a full audit of their administrative data submitted for the collection

3. Definitions

Discount compensation

The amount paid by DLUHC to housing associations, through Homes England, to fund the discounts given to tenants purchasing under the pilot.

Net receipts

The sales proceeds and discount compensation received by housing associations totalling the full market value of the home, less any deductions for debt repayment and grant investments to be recycled.

One for one replacement

Under the terms of the voluntary agreement between the government and the housing association sector, a commitment was made by the sector that homes sold would be collectively replaced on a one for one basis at a national level through new supply. This is being tested through the Midlands pilot.

Portable discount

Where housing associations apply their discretion not to sell the property in which an eligible tenant lives (including circumstances in which they are prevented from selling the property – for example via planning restrictions), in line with their local policy they must offer the tenant the opportunity to use their discount to purchase an alternative property from either their own, or another housing association’s stock.

Private Registered Providers (PRPs)

These are independent societies, bodies of trustees or companies in England, established for the purpose of providing low-cost social housing for people in housing need, on a non-profit-making basis. In England, PRPs are funded and regulated by Homes England. The Regulator of Social Housing maintains a list of social housing providers registered with it, including the latest registrations and de-registrations.

PRPs were previously termed Registered Social Landlords or housing associations. The term excludes local authorities, who also provide social housing, and local authority registered providers.

Recycled Capital Grant Funding (RCGF)

An internal fund within the accounts of a provider used to recycle historical grant in accordance with Homes England’s policies and procedures. Where a property sold under the Midlands pilot has been part funded by a capital grant, the pilot housing associations will need to recycle the grant retrieved from the sale through their RCGF programme, where providing a replacement unit has been designated an acceptable use for the purposes of the pilot.

4. Revisions policy

This policy has been developed in accordance with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Statistics and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities revisions policy

The two types of revisions that the policy covers are as follows:

Non-scheduled revisions

Where a substantial error has occurred because of the compilation, imputation or dissemination process, the statistical release, live tables and other accompanying releases will be updated with a correction notice as soon as is practical.

Scheduled revisions

Where new information becomes available post publication, this will be incorporated into the next scheduled Data Release, data tables, and any other accompanying documents.

5. Other information

Uses of the data

The data in this release is used to monitor the progress of the VRtB Midlands Pilot, and the delivery of replacement homes. This data will provide important evidence to inform the design of future policy.

User engagement

Users are encouraged to provide feedback on how these statistics are used and how well they meet user needs. Comments on any issues relating to this statistical release are welcomed and encouraged. Responses should be addressed to the contact given in the first page of the release.

See the Department’s engagement strategy to meet the needs of statistics users.

Voluntary compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics

The Code of Practice for Statistics was published in February 2018 to provide a framework for organisations producing and publishing statistics and helping to ensure that they command public confidence through demonstrating trustworthiness and providing high-quality statistics that enhance public value.

The statistics in DLUHC’s VRtB Midlands Pilot Replacement Data Release have been designated as management information and have been produced in voluntary compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The Code of Practice is framed around three main concepts, or pillars:

• Trustworthiness – Confidence in the people and organisations that produce statistics and data
• Quality – Data and methods that produce assured statistics
• Value – Statistics that support society’s needs for information

The following describes how the pillars of the Code have been applied in a proportionate way.

Application of the Code of Practice for Statistics

Pillar: Trustworthiness

Application

The management information that comprises this Data Release has been provided by all participating providers using the Department’s DELTA system. Providers have been supported in providing this data by a dedicated team within the Voluntary Right to Buy team in DLUHC.

This Data Release has been developed under guidance from the Housing and Planning Analysis (HPAD) team.

These figures have been published following the first annual data collection from providers in October 2020 and will continue to be published on an annual basis. Previous releases will remain available to view. Where previously released figures have been revised, this will be made clear.

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Pillar: High quality

Application

DLUHC worked with participating housing associations on the design and content of the initial data collection through consultation with the Operational Board, the pilot’s main stakeholder board. An initial collection was run in October 2019 to test the process with pilot housing associations, and changes were made to the design of the collection through a continuous improvement process.

This has enabled the Department to monitor the quality of data that was collected, and quality assure the provided data to minimise errors. The data was validated against that held on Homes England’s IMS; the system used for the operation of the pilot scheme.

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Pillar: Public value

Application

This Data Release gives an overview of the progress of the VRtB Midlands pilot, including the replacement of homes sold, which the pilot set out to test. This publication aims to add to the work that has been done on evaluating the pilot scheme and provide important evidence to inform the design of future policy.

This publication has been made available on the GOV.UK webpage with no restrictions on who can access the information. Further data has been made available in the accompanying data table.