The chancellor of the exchequer Philip Hammond has  announced a large-scale regional pilot of the Right to Buy extension but delayed any further roll out.

Mr Hammond announced today in his Autumn Statement that the government would be rolling out a new series of pilots with more than 3,000 tenants able to buy their properties.

In his presentation to the House of Commons, Mr Hammond said: “My right honourable friend the communities secretary will bring forward a Housing White Paper in due course… but in the meantime we can take further steps.

In documents published after the statement, the government estimated the cost of the policy to be £250m over five years to 2020/21.

The government is using a central budget to reimburse housing associations for the discount tenants receive. The first sales in a pilot scheme with five housing associations

Local authorities are awaiting a series of guidelines from the Department for Communities and Local Government, which earlier this month Inside Housing reported had been delayed.