council owned properties

Right to Buy worsens housing crisis

The Government’s commitment to build a replacement for every social rented home sold through the Right to Buy scheme is not being fulfilled, new figures show. The latest published data from the DCLG reveal that almost 50,000 council owned properties have been acquired by tenants in the UK since the Government’s Right to Buy programme was relaunched in 2012, but the Government is failing to meet a pledge for a one for one replacement of homes sold off from under the scheme. Local authorities in England have replaced just one in 10 of the homes sold through Right to Buy since discounts were increase four years ago. Official figures reveal that there have been 49,573 sales since the scheme was reinvigorated, but only 4,594 homes have been started onsite or acquired by councils. An estimated 3,250 homes were acquired by tenants in Q4 2015, up from the 2,941 during the previous quarter, while only 396 homes were started onsite or acquired by local authorities during the same three-month period. Council tenants can currently get discounts of up to £77,900, rising to £103,900 in London, under the existing Right o Buy initiative. More than 2 million council homes have been purchased…

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