Local councils face massive increase in Right-to-Buy requests as people rush to use the scheme before new rules kick in. Derby council got 367 applications since the announcement which is way more than usual (showing how fast people want to act)
The program started by Margaret Thatcher lets council tenants buy their homes at lower prices‚ but Rachel Reeves changed max discount from £136‚400 to £38‚000 on nov-21-24. Housing Secretary Angela Rayner who bought her own council house for £79‚000 in 07ʼ wants to make more changes; including longer wait times before selling
Lincoln council got 77 requests since oct-31 which is weird because they usually get just 50 per year. The citys housing director Darren Turner says: “theres been a surge where people are worried about time running out“
- Waiting time to buy might go up from 3 to 10 years
- New homes might not be part of the scheme
- Selling wait could increase to 10 years
- One-for-one replacement rule coming
Past changes by Labour in 99ʼ and 03ʼ made sales drop from 1m to just 2‚340 by 09ʼ. Last year 10‚896 homes were sold through the program but councils say its cost them £2.2bn because they cant replace sold houses
Trying to keep Right to Buy while building more social homes is like trying to fill a bath when the plugs not in