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Right to Buy must be abolished to stop further loss of social housing, property agent says
Property agent JLL has renewed its call for the Right to Buy to be abolished after releasing new figures showing the negative impact the scheme is having on the social housing sector.
In the past decade, the number of social homes sold via Right to Buy in England is the equivalent to 34% of new homes completed by housing associations and councils, the research revealed.
Right to Buy sales have meant the loss sales of 107,203 homes, according to the new data, released ahead of next week’s Budget.
A total of 45,562 replacement homes have been delivered, but it has left a shortfall of 61,641 homes, the figures showed.
Two out of the past 10 years of housing completions were “simply compensating for the homes lost through Right to Buy”, JLL said.
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Together, the lost homes would be worth £31.7bn to the sector, JLL said. The replacement homes do not make up the shortfall, which sits at £18.2bn.
Marcus Dixon, head of UK living and residential research at JLL, said: “Our research alone is a clear indication that the scheme is steadily eroding the housebuilding progress made, putting the country at a standstill with no solution in sight.
“While the Right to Buy scheme set out more than 40 years ago with good intentions of getting more people on the property ladder, there is no clear roadmap enabling councils to achieve one-for-one replacements for homes that are lost.”
He added: “With the Autumn Budget looming, we hope the government considers our plea to abolish or at least pause the Right to Buy scheme.
“This will not only prevent further loss of social housing across the sector, but it will enable local authorities and housing associations to focus on building new homes, bringing the government closer to achieving its housebuilding goals.”
Last month, housing secretary Angela Rayner told the BBC that she wanted Right to Buy to continue but be “fairer” for the taxpayer.
Responding to the JLL figures, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Right to Buy remains an important route for council housing tenants to be able to buy their own home, but it’s scandalous that only a third of council homes sold under the scheme have been replaced since 2012.
“That is why we are working at pace to reverse the continued decline of social rent homes.
“Increasing protections on newly built social homes and eligibility criteria will be looked at as part of our wider review, but there are no plans to abolish the Right to Buy scheme.”
Earlier this year, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said Right to Buy should be paused as it is the reason the housing crisis is getting worse.
Media reports have suggested that a £1bn top-up to the current Affordable Homes Programme is expected to feature in next week’s Budget.
In June, JLL published research revealing that the total cost to build housing for every household on a social housing waiting list in England would be £205bn.
The property agent’s manifesto for the Labour government included calls to recruit skilled staff and “build diverse”, developing new homes for owner-occupiers, affordable tenants, private renters and shared owners.
