Tories fail to block right to buy bid
An attempt by the Welsh government to gain the power to end the right to buy has moved a step closer to success, despite Conservative opposition.
Members of the National Assembly for Wales have voted in favour of a legislative competence order which would give the Welsh Assembly Government increased power over housing issues in the country.
The LCO would give the Welsh government wide-ranging control over housing, including the power to suspend the right to buy in areas where there is a shortage of housing, and greater authority over the regulation of social landlords and tackling homelessness.
Although 36 of the 45 assembly members voted in favour of the LCO, nine Conservatives opposed it saying they did not agree with the powers this would give over the right to buy.
Mark Isherwood, Tory shadow housing minister, said during the debate: ‘Had the deputy minister removed the meaningless and, for us, incendiary reference to the right to buy from this draft order, we would have been able to support it.
‘We therefore deeply regret that by not doing so she has prevented the cross-party consensus that we sought.’
Mr Isherwood added he believed the right to buy had given an opportunity for thousands to get on the housing ladder and create mixed communities.
‘Thirty years on, we should build on that, recognising the need for social housing that promotes opportunity and social mobility,’ he said.
Deputy minister for housing and regeneration Jocelyn Davies, who laid the order, replied: ‘You cannot create a social housing tenancy without powers over disposals by social landlords. You cannot put low-cost home ownership schemes on a statutory footing without those powers.’
Peter Black, local government spokesperson for the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said that by attempting to block the order over the right to buy the Conservatives had threatened a range of other proposals – including giving members of the armed forces a 50 per cent reduction in council tax.
He said: ‘They have voted to prevent the assembly legislating on homelessness, on housing tenure and on giving our service personnel a fair deal on council tax.’
A National Assembly for Wales committee backed the LCO last month as did the Welsh affairs committee in Westminster.
The draft order will now be sent to the secretary of state for Wales, who is responsible for laying it before Parliament for approval by both the House of Commons and House of Lords, before being given royal approval in privy council.
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