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London leaving regions behind on Right to Buy replacements
London councils have increased the number of Right to Buy replacements started in the latest year’s figures as the regions lag behind, analysis by Inside Housing has shown.
In the last financial year, London boroughs replaced 1,353 out of 3,069 homes sold under Right to Buy, or 44%. This is a significant improvement on the previous financial year, when councils in the capital replaced 514 out of 3,587, or 14%.
There was an improvement in replacements in England, from a rate of 20% in 2015-16 to 33% in 2016-17. The overall numbers, however, show that this was almost entirely driven by the changes in London and the West Midlands.
Of the five metropolitan counties with the most sales under Right to Buy in the last financial year, only the West Midlands improved its replacement rate as much as London. The other four – South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester – either improved far less or deteriorated.
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London and the West Midlands (which includes Birmingham) are the two most significant areas in terms of sales under Right to Buy, comprising 4,477 sales between them, 35% of the total in England.
Because of this, improvements in those regions make replacement figures for the whole of England appear relatively healthy and conceal the broader picture.
In South Yorkshire, for example, the replacement rate fell from 26% in 2015-16 – the highest on record for the region – to 17%. In Greater Manchester, only 12 homes have been built with Right to Buy receipts in the last five years.
The poor replacement rate is likely the result of lower house prices in the regions. In London boroughs Southwark and Newham, councils took more money from Right to Buy sales than in any of those four regions.
