News about the Right To Buy scheme

Just before the local council elections, Boris Johnson revealed the possibility of reviving the Right to Buy policy.  The Right to Buy policy began in the early 1980s as part of Thatcher’s Britain.  Millions of council properties were transferred into housing associations and occupants received the right to buy them, after several years of occupancy.  The costs were heavily discounted allowing nearly two million households to get mobile on the property ladder.  While was a great benefit, there has been little replenishing of the houses lost to the social sector.  Controversially it has increased housing waiting lists and made eligibility for housing even more restricted.  While many benefited immediately from this opportunity, it was not a scheme that intended to continue to create more housing for the sector it absorbed.   While it is being proffered as election bait as means to aid the housing crisis for the next generation, it is still hard to say how that will take place.    Read more…