David Cameron has announced a ‘revival’ of the Right to Buy scheme.
Speaking on the Andrew Marr show yesterday, Mr Cameron said “Let’s bring back the Right to Buy your council house, with proper discounts ….let’s use that money to build homes for rent, for low rents for families that are currently stuck on housing lists.”
Housing minister Grant Shapps joined in the announcement He pledged that there would be no net loss of housing as Affordable Rent homes are built to replace Right to Buy sales. Mr Shapps added that the revamped “policy would have no impact on the deal that has been struck with local authorities to reform the housing revenue account system.”
The Department for Communities and Local Government has published a question and answer guide, stating that:
- The proposals affect the Right to Buy and the Preserved Right to Buy, but not the Right to Acquire.
- Every additional pound generated by the sales will be invested in paying down the debt associated with that property and on building new housing for Affordable Rent.
- Increasing the Right to Buy discount will require secondary legislation and a consultation.
- More detail on the proposals will be provided in the Housing Strategy (which is due to be published in November).
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I am sure we all hope that sold homes will be replaced as tenants doing scrutiny of voids and allocations are getting to hear the high numbers of people on their local waiting list.