LGA: Right to Buy ‘becoming unsustainable’ due to increase in discounts
0The Local Government Association (LGA) has warned that the Right to Buy scheme is “becoming unsustainable” as a result of the large discounts available.
According to an LGA analysis, nearly £6bn has been given out in Right to Buy discounts since 2012, when the scheme was made more generous. This has led to the average discount rising by 150% to more than £67,000 in 2020/21.
The LGA said this had led to a quadrupling in the number of Right to Buy sales and suggested the scheme is “becoming unsustainable” as councils are struggling to rebuild homes as quickly as they are being sold.
Cllr David Renard, LGA housing spokesperson, said: “Councils want to urgently address the number of people on waiting lists for a council home and stuck in temporary accommodation. At a time of an escalating cost of living crisis, we urgently need to build more council homes, not have less.
“It is becoming impossible for councils to replace homes as quickly as they’re being sold, and they are increasingly having to do so with far less money than the property sells for because of discounts being offered.”
The LGA also said that councils are not able to keep all of the money from Right to Buy sales, which has meant that authorities have only been able to replace around a third of homes sold since 2012.
It warned that the scheme faces an “uncertain future” unless the government gives authorities the flexibility to set discounts locally and retain 100% of sale receipts.
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