Tenants will have to wait longer before buying homes under changes aimed at protecting social housing stock.
The government announced on Tuesday (28th April) plans to further reform the Right to Buy scheme, in an effort to protect social housing stock and support councils in building new homes.
Right to Buy, originally announced in October 1980 under the Housing Act, allows council tenants in England to purchase their homes at a discount after a qualifying period.
Ministers say the changes are designed to make the system more sustainable while still offering tenants a path to home ownership.
Under the proposals, the minimum time tenants must wait before applying will increase from three to ten years.
Discounts will also be restructured. They will start at 5% of a property’s value, increasing by 1% each year up to a maximum of 15% of the property value or the cash cap, whichever is lower.
A new 35-year exemption will also be introduced for newly built social homes. This means properties will not be eligible for sale under Right to Buy for 35 years after they are built.
The government said it is also continuing work on tackling fraud within the scheme, including measures aimed at preventing vulnerable tenants being pressured into buying their homes. It is also reviewing how Right to Buy operates in rural areas.
The reforms build on previous changes, including reductions in maximum cash discounts to between £16,000 and £38,000 depending on location.
Councils are now able to keep all receipts from sales and combine them with government funding to help build and acquire new homes.
New homes are needed more than ever. The latest figures from Crisis show 1.3 million households were on social housing wait lists from early 2024. The charity have even taken matters into their own hands, beginning to buy properties in London and Newcastle to support homeless people.
Meanwhile, the ‘cost floor’ protection has been extended from 15 to 30 years. This means discounts are limited so homes cannot be sold for less than the cost of building and repairing them.
As it stands, the government haven’t set a time frame for introducing these reforms, but Gavin Smart, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), said they were a ‘positive’ step forward.
He added: ‘CIH welcomes the government’s continued focus on reforming Right to Buy and the clear recognition that change is needed to better protect and rebuild our social housing. The measures confirmed today are a positive step towards addressing the long-standing imbalance between homes sold and those replaced.’
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