You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Just 10 homes sold through Voluntary Right to Buy pilot using portability
Only 10 housing association tenants living in a home exempt from the Voluntary Right to Buy (VRTB) scheme have been able to become homeowners through the pilot since it launched a year ago.
Figures released to Inside Housing by Homes England under the Freedom of Information Act show that of the 529 sales completed through the Midlands VRTB pilot, less than 2% involved “portability”.
Portability refers to the ability of tenants to use their VRTB discount – equivalent to the Right to Buy markdowns available to council tenants – on a housing association home they do not currently live in.
It is intended to allow tenants whose homes are not eligible for sale, often due to planning rules, to still benefit from the scheme.
Housing associations are also able to choose which homes they exempt as part of a deal agreed between the sector and government.
Tenants are theoretically allowed to port discounts between homes not owned by the same housing association – though all the 10 portability sales have involved properties owned by the same landlord.
READ MORE
Portability sales take longer to complete so numbers are still likely to rise before the pilot concludes in spring, with 2,463 total VRTB applications still live on Homes England’s database as of 27 August.
The Midlands VRTB pilot launched as a ballot in August last year, with 6,000 tenants successful in the draw.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) expected to fund 3,000 sales through the £200m pilot.
However, demand for the scheme has been relatively low, with some housing associations blaming a lack of interest in portability.
Last week, housing secretary Robert Jenrick revealed plans to offer housing association tenants the right to purchase 10% of their homes through shared ownership, increasing their share of the equity in 1% chunks.
Many in the housing sector reacted to the announcement with scepticism, with question marks over whether there is demand for such an offer.
Listen to a podcast about the VRTB pilot or about the government’s shared ownership announcement:
Forty housing associations had completed sales through the VRTB pilot by 27 August – with Stonewater accounting for the most at 58. BHA Housing had completed two portability sales, while EMH Homes, Futures Housing Group, Nottingham Community Housing Association, Rooftop, Spire Homes (which is part of Longhurst Group), Stonewater, The Wrekin Housing Trust and WHG all completed one.
A spokesperson for MHCLG said: “The Voluntary Right to Buy Midlands pilot is an exciting opportunity which is giving thousands of tenants in the Midlands the opportunity to realise their dream of homeownership.
“We are pleased there has been substantial interest in the scheme and that sales are progressing well.
“A full evaluation, including of the portable discount, will be published in 2020 after the pilot concludes.”
The Voluntary Right to Buy explained
- Discounts for eligible HA tenants are at the same rates as local authority tenants in the statutory Right to Buy scheme (between 35 and 70 per cent of the value of the property, to a maximum of £80,900 – whichever figure is lower)
- Eligibility is determined by the government, with discounts funded by the government’s £200m pilot scheme
- HA boards have the final decision over which homes to sell, with the presumption that they will sell a tenant their current home if possible
- Where they decided not to do so, the government compensates HAs to apply the discount to an alternative property – known as ‘porting’
- ‘Flexible one-for-one’ replacements are incorporated, meaning for every Voluntary Right to Buy sale, a new affordable property will be built – overall, meaning some HAs will replace at a ratio greater than, and some lower than, 1:1
