Tory plans to "sell off 113,000 council homes" would be disaster says charity boss

Tory plans to extend the Right to Buy scheme may mean up to 113,000 council homes are sold off to the highest bidder.
The Tories want to give England’s 1.3 million housing association tenants the right to buy their properties at a discounted rate.

But the associations would be compensated through the forced sale of valuable vacant council houses.
Such sales would also – in theory – pay for building more affordable property.
Yet housing charity Shelter fears losing so much social housing will force many into unstable and expensive private renting.

Chief executive Campbell Robb said: “At a time when millions of families are struggling to find somewhere affordable to live, plans to sell off large swathes of the few genuinely affordable homes we have left is only going to make things worse.”

An estimated 1.5million homes have been sold under the Right to Buy project since it was introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1980.

But critics say it has inflated property prices and made millionaires out of landlords who rent out the homes.
Under the Tory’s new scheme empty council houses would be sold if they reach a certain value. Shelter thinks that would be as many as 113,000 or 6.8% of England’s stock.

Mr Robb added: “If George Osborne is serious about turning around the housing crisis, the autumn spending review is his last chance to invest in the genuinely affordable homes this country desperately needs.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tory-plans-sell-113000-council-6457764

Thought it seemed rather relevant.  Forcing sale of social housing and council housing to make sure their mates, the rich landlords, get richer and we have less and less housing for people who desperately need it.  Never trust the Tories.

I don't see why they should be allowed to buy them at discounted rates - they already paid less than a lot of people by having cheaper rent.

I've never agreed with buying council homes or social housing.
Social housing should be for those who cannot afford to buy and a safe place for families who cannot afford to buy (it's hard to get evicted for example as compared to private renting)

My dad used to say Maggie ruined the country for allowing council houses to be bought; I see why she did it and her intentions but it has created problems.

And rags? Housing association rents are not all cheap!
It all depends on the area you live in.

The area I live is very very expensive and the standard rent is about £200 a week for a HA house.
Private rent will be 200-500 per week

I think you idea of selling Council houses was to use the money raised to build more houses. Sadly a lot of councils Tory and Labour, used the money for other purposes.

Of course, nobody will say a word about the people who take advantage of this, despite the fact that they were treated with favouritism in the first place.

Raggamuffin wrote:Of course, nobody will say a word about the people who take advantage of this, despite the fact that they were treated with favouritism in the first place.

Who do you mean?