The government has published its consultation paper on increasing Right to Buy discounts for tenants in April 2012. It is proposing to increase the cap to£50,000, effectively trebling the discount in some parts of the country.

This will mean, for example, that someone in the West Midlands who had been a tenant for eight years on an household income of £20,000 could buy their £90,000 flat with a discount of £50,000 compared to £26,000 previously –  doubling their discount.

In London, a tenant for five years buying a flat worth £160,000 would also receive a discount of £50,000 – more than three times the previous cap of £16,000.

The government does not intend to change the qualifying period for eligibility and the proposed changes also apply to the Preserved Right to Buy