The Right to Buy (RTB) scheme is causing the significant loss of social housing and cannot continue in its current form, the Local Government Association (LGA) has said today.
In 2022-23, 10,896 homes were sold through RTB and only 3,447 have been replaced, resulting in a net loss of 7,449 social homes, a new LGA report found.
With one million people on council housing waiting lists and £1.74bn spent annually on temporary accommodation, ‘major’ reforms to RTB should be introduced in next month’s Budget, the LGA said.
The association is continuing to call on the Government to enable councils to retain 100% of RTB receipts permanently and combine receipts with other grants.
It also wants councils to be able to set discount levels locally, and for the Government to remove both the time limit on spending receipts and the cap on the number of homes that can be acquired using receipts.
LGA housing spokesperson Darren Rodwell said: ‘It is time for the Government to overhaul a system which has seen our social housing stock significantly diminish.
‘If the Government adopts our proposals this would allow councils to resume their role as a major builder of affordable homes.’
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: ‘We are committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing, and our £11.5bn affordable homes programme is delivering well over a hundred thousand affordable homes – including tens of thousands of new homes specifically for social rent.’
