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Louise Thomas
Editor
Angela Rayner is considering scrapping Margaret Thatcher’s Right to Buy scheme, it has emerged.
The deputy prime minister and housing secretary attended an urgent meeting with local authorities in August to discuss housing reforms, according to reports.
And a Ministry of Housing and Local Government spokesman told The Daily Telegraph it is “working at pace to reverse the continued decline in the number of social rent homes”.
The department did not rule out abolishing Right to Buy for newly built council homes in Rachel Reeves’ first budget this October.
Under Right to Buy, which was introduced in 1980 as one of Mrs Thatcher’s flagship reforms, the government sells off council housing at discounts of up to £100,000 to sitting tenants.
Ms Rayner bought her council house using the Right to Buy scheme in 2007 with a 25 per cent discount, making a reported £48,500 profit when selling it, albeit eight years later.
And a report on Monday saw more than 100 councils call for the scheme to be axed, claiming it has helped to create a £2.2bn hole in local authority accounts and exacerbated the UK’s housing crisis.
Last year, 10,896 homes were sold through Right to Buy while only 3,447 were replaced, resulting in a net loss of 7,449. Since 1991, the scheme has resulted in the loss of 24,000 social homes, according to official figures.
Monday’s report, commissioned by Southwark council, said scrapping Right to Buy was among a series of measures which could “wake the sleeping giant of housebuilding” and help Labour achieve its goal of building 1.5m homes this parliament.
The party has previously promised to review the Right to Buy discounts available to those buying their homes, as well as the eligibility criteria for the scheme and how councils use the money from Right to Buy sales.
A government spokesman said: “We are facing the most acute housing crisis in living memory and that is why we are working at pace to reverse the continued decline in the number of social rent homes.
“We have made clear we will give councils and housing associations the stability they need and will set out further details at the next spending review.”
Shadow housing secretary and Tory leadership contender Kemi Badenoch accused Ms Rayner of wanting to “destroy one of Margaret Thatcher’s most transformative policies”.
Tory leadership rival James Cleverly added: “Margaret Thatcher gave ordinary people the opportunity to have the security and freedom of owning a home of their own.
“Angela Rayner wants to take that away.”
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