The Right to Buy policy in England has become a 'strategic failure' that has exacerbated inequalities in society, a damning review has found.

The upcoming UK Housing Review 2022 said the policy has led to an erosion in the number of social rented homes, 40% of which are now in the unregulated rented sector.

The analysis, by Alan Murie, argues this has undermined the Government's ambition to boost home ownership and has had a ‘levelling down’ impact in smaller settlements and rural areas where council housing is critical for lower-paid households.

It warns that unless the policy is reconsidered it will continue to generate uneven spatial and social impacts.

Alan Murie, Emeritus Professor of urban and regional studies at the University of Birmingham, said: 'If there had been a sufficient attempt to sustain investment in social housing and to reinvest capital receipts in social rented homes, the impacts of right to buy could have been offset.

'The problem has not been right to buy as such, but because right to buy has continued alongside other policy failures.'

The review also found the scheme comes at a significant cost to the taxpayer as the average discount exceeds the aggregate average rent paid over the previous 15 years.It has also added pressure to local authority waiting lists and raised temporary accommodation costs.

James Prestwich, director of policy and external affairs at the Chartered Institute of Housing, added: 'This analysis shows that the Right to Buy is an ill-designed policy which undermines the availability of social housing stock for those who need it most and adds to pressure on the public purse. An urgent re-think is needed on its future.'

A DLUHC spokesperson said: 'Right to Buy gives people the opportunity to own their home and has helped almost two million council tenants into home ownership.

'Since 2010 the government has delivered over 574,100 new affordable homes, including 154,600 for social rent.

'We’re investing over £12bn in affordable housing. The largest investment in a decade which is helping hard working young people and families on to the housing ladder.'