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Ten more councils join request to spend RTB receipts on shared ownership
A further 10 councils have joined a consultation with the government to be allowed to spend Right to Buy receipts on shared ownership.
Housing minister Alok Sharma has been considering a request from 50 other councils for legislation to be changed to enable money raised through Right to Buy sales to be used to purchase homes from the open market for shared ownership.
Receipts are currently supposed to be spent on building new homes for affordable rent, but councils are only allowed to use a fraction of the cash for construction costs.
As a result, council housing stock is being sold off much faster than it is replaced.
Treasury advisor Arlingclose, which submitted the proposals in June, is still waiting to hear back from the Department for Communities and Local Government.
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Among the 60 councils to have signed up are Guildford Borough Council, Oxford City Council, Swindon Borough Council, Bolsover District Council and North East Derbyshire District Council.
Claire Morris, chief financial officer at Conservative-run Guildford Borough Council, said: “From Guildford’s point of view we’ll back any initiative that will give us extra flexibility around Right to Buy receipts.
“We are one of the more expensive places to live in the country – both housing ownership and private rent are not very affordable. We’re looking at ways we can help people at the lower end of the housing market and this would be another tool in the box.
“In an ideal world the amount we get from receipts would pay for replacements, but the amount we get is not enough to get new homes built at the same speed we are selling them.”
Labour’s shadow housing secretary John Healey said: “Government restrictions and clawbacks are stopping like-for-like replacement of homes sold through the Right to Buy, robbing communities of much-needed affordable homes.
“Only one in five council homes sold since 2012 has been replaced. Councils understandably want to make the best of the current situation, but it is the rules set by central government that need to change.”
