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Right to Buy sales slow to lowest level since 2013
The number of council homes sold under the Right to Buy policy dropped by 22% this summer to the lowest level for more than five years.
Figures released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) yesterday show 2,417 homes were sold by councils between July and September this year.
This is a 22% drop on the 3,115 sold in the same quarter last year, and the lowest quarterly figure since April to June 2014.
The number of replacement homes built rose 28% year-on-year to 1,160 – but the government remains well short of its highly caveated pledge to ensure ‘additional’ homes sold are replaced.
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Councils are awaiting the outcome of a government consultation on Right to Buy, aimed at changing the policy to allow them to replace more of the homes sold.
The government lifted Right to Buy discounts to £75,000 in April 2012, and upped this to £100,000 in London a year later. The discounts now sit at £80,900 nationally and £108,000 in London.
Since then, 72,929 council homes have been sold off at a rate of more than 12,000 homes a year. However, in the first two quarters of 2018/19, sales have dipped sharply.
While the government promised councils would replace the homes on a ‘one-for-one’ basis this only applied to those it considers ‘additional’ and a replacement can be started within three years.
To meet this pledge, it would need 23,247 replacements to have been built but has only delivered 20,746 replacements – meaning it is around 2,500 short.
Terrie Alafat, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: “We know that the government is consulting on ways to make it easier for councils to replace the homes they sell under Right to Buy, which is welcome.
“But we still believe ministers should suspend the scheme to stem the loss of social rented homes, remove the barriers stopping councils from replacing homes sold and look at more effective ways to help people access homeownership.”
