By Mark Smulian | 6 August 2014
Right-to-Buy discounts for council tenants will be increased by £2,000, housing minister Brandon Lewis has said.
Discounts will rise to £77,000 from £75,000, and in London from £100,000 to £102,700, a move the government said was in line with consumer price index changes.
The maximum percentage discount on houses has also increased from 60% to 70%, bringing it into line with that for flats.
Lewis said more than 19,500 people had bought their home since the government increased the discounts available in 2012.
Right to Buy was introduced in the Housing Act 1980 and has been available since then, though in the later years of the Labour government the discounts were reduced.
‘Under the last government, the Right to Buy was allowed to wither on the vine, killing off hopes of home ownership for most social tenants because of a miserly discount,’ Lewis said.
‘We have reinvigorated the Right to Buy increasing the discounts available to open it up to more tenants.’
The government will also create a team of Right to Buy advisers to support tenants who wish to buy their homes.
Responding to the announcement, Roger Harding, director of communications, policy and campaigns at homelessness charity Shelter, said: ‘While an increased discount may help people wanting to buy their home to do so, rigorous checks must be in place to make sure it’s truly affordable to them in the long-term.
‘At a time when more and more people are struggling to find an affordable place to live, it’s also vital that any homes sold under Right to Buy are replaced like-for-like. If not, this scheme will do more harm than good for the thousands of families priced out of a decent place to live.’
Right to Buy is ending in Scotland after the Housing (Scotland) Bill, passed in June, left those entitled to exercise the right with a two-year notice period in which to do so. After this, the scheme will end.
