Government needs £50bn to return affordable housing to 2010 levels, researchers say

Around 500,000 fewer tenants would be currently eligible to buy their own council homes as a result.

The consultation explained how, in practice, Right to Buy purchases already fell to 11,000 in 2022-23, while 62% of the remaining social housing stock in England is ineligible for the scheme because it is owned by housing associations.

Labour is also considering preventing tenants from buying newly built social homes for a given period, and aims to replace all future sales with a social home on a one-for-one basis.

This proposal, the report says, is “much more important” for protecting housing stock.

The government is also suggesting increasing the period during which councils can ask for repayment of all or part of the discount received when a property is sold from five years up to 10.

According to last October’s Budget, local authorities are expected to save nearly £1.2bn by 2029-30 from Right to Buy reductions and being able to retain full receipts from social housing sales.

“The government’s proposed clampdown on the Right to Buy council homes will significantly blunt the impact of the policy. But it still faces a huge task in replenishing Britain’s affordable housing stock,” the Resolution Foundation said.

To house the families currently living in temporary accommodation in England would require an extra 125,000 social homes, costing around £15bn.

The UK’s affordable housing stock has fallen from a peak of 5.5 million homes in the 1970s to 4.1 million today, despite population growth over this period, the foundation said.

Cara Pacitti, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Since its introduction in 1980, the Right to Buy has helped over two million council tenants to buy their properties.

“But it has also worsened Britain’s affordable housing shortage. And rather than boost homeownership among low-income families, too often it has instead boosted the portfolios of private landlords.

“New restrictions being proposed by the government will effectively mark the end of Right to Buy. But the job of replenishing Britain’s affordable housing stock has only just begun,” she added.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Too many social homes have been sold off and not replaced, directly contributing to the worst housing crisis in living memory.

“That is why we are taking decisive action to reform the Right to Buy scheme to make it fairer, where longstanding tenants can buy their own homes but, crucially, councils can replace them.

“This is part of our commitment to deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation, including major planning changes to support the much-needed delivery of affordable homes.”