Right to Buy
Right to Buy scheme is in need of urgent reform
The Government should use the Spring Budget to set out key reforms to the outdated Right to Buy scheme to ensure it works for everyone, argues Cllr Darren Rodwell.
Getting the house in order
Martin Ford speaks to sector experts about what is fuelling the risks of Housing Revenue Accounts going into deficit and what action could be taken to reduce the burdens on councils.
LGA poised to shift position on Right to Buy
Smith Square is poised to amend its position on Right to Buy, The MJ has learned.
The stats don’t lie: we need a plan to tackle the affordable housing crisis
Urgent action is needed to give councils the financial firepower to drive a significant increase in social and affordable housing, and to tackle the unregulated expansion of short-term lets, says Cllr Hannah Dalton.
Government must get its act together on housing supply
Homelessness rates will rocket unless the Government deals with the fundamental issue of housing supply, warns leader of Enfield LBC and LGA Labour leader Cllr Nesil Caliskan.
Success on the home front
Ann McGauran talks to Wiltshire Council leader Richard Clewer about the local authority’s successful approach to housing Ukrainian refugees and the wider challenge of offering suitable long-term housing for others desperately in need.
Tackling the rent convergence policy hangover should be a priority
The rent convergence policy was cut short in 2015, leaving some property rent levels stuck at below target. Giving councils the flexibility to increase these rents by a different rate would ensure fairness and equity, says Tracy Bingham.
Councils to keep 100% of Right to Buy receipts
Local authority leaders have welcomed the Government’s decision to allow councils to keep 100% of their Right to Buy receipts for the next two years.
Social housing to lose nearly 60,000 homes
Social housing in England will lose a further 57,000 homes by the end of the decade because of the Right to Buy scheme, according to new analysis.
Maintaining services in the face of crises
Greg Clark has asked councils to close loopholes to curtail risky income generation. Kathy O'Leary says that 'realistically, we’ll be taking every funding and low-risk income-generating opportunity open to us'.
London boroughs lose 23k homes to Right to Buy
The capital’s council housing stock has shrunk by almost 6% over the past decade due to homes sold under Right to Buy.
How to solve homelessness
Without new homes, initiatives to tackle homelessness are not going to stem the tide, says Dave Smith.
Right to Buy under threat due to discounts worth £6bn
Council leaders have warned that the billions of pounds that have been spent on Right to Buy discounts are threatening the future of the homeownership scheme.
Half of Right to Buy homes replaced
There were 10,878 homes sold under the Right to Buy scheme in the 2021-22 financial year, while just 5,089 replacement properties were bought or started.
Don't take socially rented homes out of use
Claire Kober says that while home ownership is deeply ingrained in the national psyche, taking socially rented homes out of use is, in her view, not the way to achieve it.
Home truths
Sir Bob Neill says it’s vital that, with the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill having been introduced, local government brings its expertise to bear in the forthcoming discussions – with three areas key to the conversation.
Right to Buy extended to housing association tenants
Council leaders have warned that any homes sold under the newly-extended Right to Buy scheme must be replaced on a like-for-like basis.
New Bill to put beauty at the heart of planning, says Gove
The Queen’s Speech is set to include a new bill to revamp planning and kick start housebuilding, levelling up secretary Michael Gove has revealed.
Right to Buy policy has been 'strategic failure'
Right to Buy in England has become a 'strategic failure' that has exacerbated inequalities in society, a damning review has found.
MHCLG housebuilding survey met with scepticism
A government survey designed to find out ‘any remaining barriers that may be stifling’ councils’ housebuilding plans has been met with scepticism by council chiefs.