Right to Buy and the '12,700 lost council homes'

Published by Ross Macmillan for 24dash.com in Housing

Nearly 13,000 homes sold under the Right to Buy (RTB) up to 2015 will not be replaced, according to construction union Ucatt who says it has "exposed flaws" in the Government's one-for-one pledge.

A Government consultation on reinvigorating RTB - by increasing the discount cap to £50,000 - closed yesterday.

As part of the scheme the Government wants to replace every home sold with a new one.

However, in a stinging response to the Communities and Local Government (CLG) department, Ucatt has highlighted that nearly 13,000 homes will be sold between 2011-15 without the funds going towards new housing.

This is because the one-for-one pledge only covers additional homes sold under the Right to Buy scheme and not the 12,700 properties the Government had already estimated would be sold under the current arrangements between 2011-15. The forecast was included in the calculation of the Local Authority Assumed Income. 

Ucatt's consultation response states: "... the Government has already estimated that between 2011-2015, a total of 12,700 properties would have been sold under the existing Right to Buy scheme. These homes will not be replaced as this forecast was included in the calculation of the Local Authority Assumed Income.  It is therefore misleading for the Government to suggest that they are offering a ‘one-for-one replacement’.  Almost 13,000 social housing units will be lost before any construction of replacement homes begins."

UCATT’s consultation response is also highly critical of the fact that there will be no guarantee that councils who are forced to sell council properties under the revised Right to Buy scheme, will be able to use those receipts to build new homes. Instead, it warns the money is likely to be placed in a central pot and then allocated to councils best placed to bid for additional funding.

Mr Murphy added: “If councils are forced to sell off their housing stock, the very least they can expect is to be given those funds to provide new homes for local residents in housing need. Given the actions of previous Conservative administrations we have legitimate concerns that these proposals will lead to gerrymandering, social engineering and herald the return of the rigged housing rules of  the 1980s and 1990s.”

A Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: "The housing strategy made clear that, alongside increasing the average discount for social tenants wishing to buy their own home, a new affordable home will be built for every additional home bought under the Right to Buy. Local authorities will have assumed a level of income from Right to Buy sales under the current discounts, in their financial planning."