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Right to Buy sales slide to lowest level in six years

The number of Right to Buy sales have fallen to its lowest level in six years, the latest figures show.

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Picture: Getty
Picture: Getty
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Latest figures from MHCLG show that Right to Buy sales have fallen to its lowest level in six years #ukhousing

Councils sold an estimated 2,313 homes under the controversial scheme in the three months to June, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government reported today.

This represented a 7% fall on the same quarter last year and the lowest number of sales since 2012/13.

Sales from Right to Buy dived during the last financial crisis, hitting a quarterly low of just 293 in early 2009. However they shot up between 2013 and 2014 after the government increased the discount from £75,000 to £100,000.

Today’s figures come amid fresh calls for an overhaul of the divisive scheme, first introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1980.

Despite the slowdown in sales, the Local Government Association warned last month that housebuilding by councils could not keep up with the rate of stock being sold.


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However the latest data shows that starts are up 38% to 1,290 compared with the same quarter last year.

Any hope of any changes to the scheme in this month’s Spending Review were dashed as chancellor Sajid Javid gave little mention to housing.

The latest figures show councils received £194.7m from Right to Buy sales, a 7% fall on the same quarter last year.

Inside Housing revealed in 2017 that four out of 10 homes sold under Right to Buy were being rented out by private landlords.

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