Local Government Network say Conservative Right to Buy is ‘bad policy’

Margaret Thatcher hands over the deeds to the council house belonging to the King family of Milton Keynes in 1979

Interestingly according to the latest polling Milton Keynes South is now a close Labour/Conservative battleground.

Local Government Network, a thinktank, has come out against the extension of the Right to Buy policy. Director Simon Parker said:

Forcing councils to sell-off their highest value properties is simply bad policy. Money should not be taken from hard-strapped local authorities to fund a central pot to compensate housing associations for the Conservatives’ decision to introduce Right to Buy with high discounts to their tenants.

Shelter says the plan is ‘another nail in the coffin’ for affordable housing.

We have already seen an outright failure to replace like for like the homes sold under right to buy, with only one new affordable home built for every five sold.

Extending the scheme to housing associations may benefit a lucky few, but does little to help the millions of private renters struggling to cope with sky high housing costs and instability. And, with the current track record, will mean there’s even fewer affordable homes left for future generations.