Right to Buy warning as rules council house rules 'tightened up' by Labour

A Right to Buy warning has been issued after more people were warned they face being exempt from the Right to Buy scheme. Ministers will make it harder for tenants in England to buy their own council homes under changes designed to increase Britain’s stock of socially rented housing, Angela Rayner has announced.

Labour Party MP Ms Rayner said: “For millions of people in the position I was once in, that first step into the secure social housing that changed my life has become a distant dream. 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.”

She added: “We cannot fix the crisis without addressing this issue – it’s like trying to fill a bath when the plug’s not in. A fairer Right to Buy will help councils protect and increase their housing stock while also keeping the pathway to home ownership there for those who otherwise might not have the opportunity to get on the housing ladder.”

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Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said: “At a time when 4.2 million people are in need of social housing in England, we strongly support the government’s aim to protect the country’s social housing and welcome confirmation that Right to Buy will not be extended to housing associations.

“Alongside these reforms, we look forward to working with the government on the long-term housing strategy that is needed to deliver its housing ambitions and build a generation of new social homes.” Labour politician and MP Ms Rayner cited her own experience of living in council housing, but is facing Tory accusations of hypocrisy for restricting a policy she used to make a £48,500 profit when selling the home she herself bought under the right-to-buy scheme.