An annual cash shortfall of more than £1bn a year could undermine government plans to extend the Right to Buy scheme to 1.3m social housing tenants, analysis by commercial estate agents has suggested.

Doubts over the financial viability of the Conservative flagship scheme to extend home ownership have emerged following data-analysis by Savills and published in the Financial Times today, which reveals a £1.3bn shortfall.

This research indicates around £3.2bn is likely to be raised each year from the enforced disposal of 5,500 high value council homes – as opposed to Government estimates of 15,000 property sales a year yielding receipts of £4.5bn.