Right To Buy

 

I hadn’t thought of ‘Right To Buy’ for years and did not even know if that right still existed. But recently, from an issue of New Statesman I discovered it did and does!  I also learned some astonishing facts:

Council houses providing capacity, affordability and
high standards of housing for renters.

1. Between April 1980 and March 2023, 2,020,779 council houses and flats have been sold through Right To Buy schemes.     

      2. Under the same scheme, 14,085 social housing sales were completed in 2022-23 and 90% of all recorded social housing sales were through Right to Buy. 

3.   3. Government spending on housing is now at its highest level at £30.5 billion [2021-2022] In 1975-76, it was £22.3 billion. 

It was towards the end of 1979 that the Conservative government announced plans to allow council house tenants to buy their homes at a discount. I remember hearing that news and approving of it hugely though never considering the implications of such an idea. At some point after its introduction, I remember someone I knew in my Kentish village asking me to help with completing the admin side of her transaction to buy her council home, and I strongly remember her tears at what she regarded as a total miracle for her family. They had always assumed that this had been an impossible dream but now it was within reach.

Goole. Council house kitchen.

In a sharp lesson, I now learn that since Right to Buy was introduced, just over four decades ago, over two million council houses have been sold with many not replaced. I think I also recall my indignation at the Thatcherite refusal to allow councils to spend the sales receipts on replacement homes in those early days. In fact, until 2023, councils were obliged to give 25% from council house sales receipts to the Treasury and despite the 75% retained, there has been a steady decrease in council house building during those 45 years: the figures are startling. In 1980, 94,140 new social housing units were built; in the year ending 31 March 2024, the U.K. built just 700 social rent homes.  

The current Labour government has confirmed that Councils will be able to retain 100% of the Right to Buy receipts and it has also reduced the amount permitted as a Right to Buy discount. Clearly, an

Caerphilly: Rent hike in council houses set to rise by 6.5%

official acknowledgement of the continuing drain the scheme has on Council funding but one wonders why the scheme has continued. No Government or, by definition, no Council, can advance a successful housing policy under the strictures of such an unrealistic, if worthy, policy. Councils are simply unable to match the rate of replacement to the rate of sales, especially given the 25% Treasury 'tax' That being so, why hasn’t the scheme been scrapped? This apparent lack of logic must be based on the evidence that we voters really like the idea of Right To Buy; clearly A Good Thing, while, at the same time, being unaware

The Govt. has pledged to build 1.5 million more homes
by the end of this current parliament.

 that there simply isn’t the finance to fund such a dream. Councils are desperately short of money; witness the national lack of the upkeep of municipal libraries, museums, schools. Right To Buy is popular but it cannot but impede progress on dealing with the housing crisis. The only answer appears to lie within some form of providing finance through taxation but any mention of such a solution is unlikely to be heard in the perennial search for votes. 

20/21 to 22/23 Comparisons

BUT I have found the most recent Govt. pronouncement on Right To Buy which is as follows;

"From November 21, 2024, the maximum discount for buying a council home is between £16,000 and £38,000. The discount depends on where you live. The period for properties built or acquired after April 1, 2012 has increased to 30 years. The discount will be reduced if your landlord has spent money on your home in the last 10 or 15 years. You may need to repay some or all of the discount if you sell your home within five years. If you sell within 10 years, you must offer the property back to the council before selling it on the open market. "

Stylish modern council housing.
Two in three of renters never expect to own
their home.