Right-to-Buy sales set to reach highest level in 20 years

The number of council homes being sold under the Right-to-Buy scheme is set to hit its highest level in two decades.

More than 18,500 homes are expected to be sold off in 2025/26, the highest figure since 2005, according to analysis by the i newspaper.

The Local Government Association has warned that this “mass sell-off will further exacerbate the homelessness crisis that councils are already working hard to address.”

Adding further pressure to housing demand

Right-to-Buy gives council tenants the right to purchase the home they rent from the local authority at a discount.

Tenants must currently have lived in a property for at least three years to qualify, with discounts increasing over time, though Labour plans to change this by extending the qualifying period to ten years.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves also slashed the maximum discount in last October’s budget, from £136,000 to £16,000 in most London boroughs, and from £102,000 to £38,000 outside the capital.

Councils told the i they weren’t warned about the scale of the cut, and say the surge in sales will “add further pressure” to already stretched housing demand.

Government will be getting rid of social housing faster than they can build it

The surge in Right-to-Buy applications could also undermine Labour’s promise to increase the number of affordable homes available in Britain.

The rise in right-to-buy sales means more homes will be taken out of social rent in a single year than the up to 18,000 new social and affordable homes Labour pledged to build by 2029.

The homes lost are those with the lowest “social” rents, making this predicted sales surge nearly double the 9,866 social rent homes added to England’s housing stock in 2023/24.

Alistair McIntosh, chief executive of HQN, a housing consultancy which advises councils, told the i newspaper: “The government will be getting rid of social housing faster than they can build it.

“This is a classic one-step forward, ten steps back policy, and will leave a legacy of chaos.”

Worst housing crisis in living memory

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson told the i paper: “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.

“This government has delivered on its manifesto commitment to reviewing the increased discounts introduced in 2012 and our reforms will reverse this decline and deliver a fairer scheme by supporting councils to retain the receipts to rebuild their housing stock, while retaining a route for longstanding tenants to own their own homes.

“We’re delivering the biggest boost to social and affordable housing, with a £800m in year top up to the existing Affordable Homes Programme and a £2bn down payment on further funding announced at the spending review.”