Today, we have published a report urging the government to remove social housing from the Right to Buy scheme to help solve the housing crisis and increase the number of affordable homes.
Since Right to Buy was introduced in 1980, over 2 million social homes have been sold, but only 2% have been replaced. This has caused a major shortage of affordable housing, with 1.3 million households on waiting lists and over 117,000 families in temporary accommodation. Homelessness has doubled in the past decade.
The Right to Buy scheme was originally created to help tenants buy their homes at a discount. But it has significantly reduced the supply of social housing. For every five homes sold, only one is replaced, leaving fewer homes for people in need.
Nick Atkin, chief executive of Yorkshire Housing, said: “Right to Buy is no longer working.
“It's taking away vital social homes and forcing people into the expensive private rental market. Removing social housing from the scheme is the only way to stop this loss and ensure we can build enough homes to provide long-term stability for those who need it most.
“The changes we’re proposing aren’t about stopping social housing tenants from buying a home but about helping them to achieve their housing aspirations in a way that also protects social housing for the long-term.”
While the government has announced some changes to Right to Buy, such as limiting discounts and introducing cost protections, these steps don’t go far enough. In 2022/23 alone, more than 14,000 social homes were sold under Right to Buy - far more than the number of new homes being built.
Our proposals aim to protect existing stock and increase social housing. They include:
- Keeping the 3-year qualification period for tenants to buy homes
- Offering fixed monetary incentives instead of discounts based on property value
- Allowing previous tenancies to count toward the qualification period
- Removing social homes from Right to Buy and supporting customers to purchase a home on the open market or through other affordable home ownership options like shared ownership
- Centralised funding to protect local councils from financial risk
- Stronger fraud prevention to stop misuse of the scheme
We hope that these ideas will shape the government’s ongoing Right to Buy consultation.
The full report can be read here.