Right to Buy sales in London lowest in years, according to latest statistics

Data also shows that sales in all regions fell last year. Although London had one of the highest numbers of RTB sales, there has still been a drop year-on-year.

The number of sales in the capital was 1,081, which is the lowest it has been since 2013.

The capital also has one of the lowest rates of sales compared to its housing stock – just above the South East and the South West.

The number of sales per 1,000 social housing properties in London was just 2.8%, which has fallen slowly since a 2015 peak of 10%.

Since the start of the RTB scheme in 1980, until 31 March 2024, there have been more than 2,026,893 sales across the country through RTB.

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “As part of our mission to get Britain building again, we will build 1.5 million homes over this parliament and create the biggest wave of social and affordable housing in a generation.

“Our ambitious plan to increase overall supply will make homes more affordable and we will work with councils to replace the homes sold under Right to Buy.”

Labour’s manifesto included a commitment to “prioritise the building of new social rented homes and better protect our existing stock by reviewing the increased RTB discounts introduced in 2012 and increasing protections on newly built social housing”.

One expert believes that the dramatic drop in RTB sales could be due to higher borrowing costs, which is also believed to have affected a drop in overall house sales last year.

Alex Diner, senior housing researcher at the New Economics Foundation (NEF), said: “While higher borrowing costs are likely behind this reduction in Right to Buy sales, the scheme still requires serious reform.

“Right to Buy continues to have a chilling effect on councils’ ability to build new homes. Powers should be devolved to councils, who know their areas best, to tailor the policy to local circumstances. The receipts system should also be reformed to allow councils to replace homes that are sold.

“These reforms would allow Right to Buy to help resolve the housing crisis, rather than contribute to it as it currently does.”

The NEF has previously called for Right to Buy to be devolved after research that it published in May provided an update on how many homes sold under the policy are now in the hands of private landlords.