A major shake up of Right to Buy policy by the government looks set to prevent more social housing tenants from purchasing their own homes.
Under fresh proposals, tenants may have to wait more than 10 years to purchase their homes and those living in newly built social homes may never be able to buy.
The government also wants to cut Right to Buy discounts back to pre-2012 levels and discourage social tenants from selling the homes they have purchased.
Housing secretary Angela Rayner said its changes will address the loss of social housing, but the Conservatives said Labour is “limiting aspiration and social mobility”.
Since the Right to Buy policy was introduced in 1980, under Margaret Thatcher’s government, there has been an annual net loss in social housing stock as successive governments have failed to replace the housing that has been acquired or bulldozed.
Analysis by Shelter reveals that there are 1.4 million fewer English households in social housing than there were in 1980.
“Too many social homes have been sold off before they can be replaced, which has directly contributed to the worst housing crisis in living memory,” said Rayner. “We cannot fix the crisis without addressing this issue – it’s like trying to fill a bath when the plug’s not in.”
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