Coujncils demand more flexibility and control over Right to Buy to protect social housing stock
The Local Government Association (LGA) has called on the Government to go further with its reforms of Right to Buy (RTB) to give local authorities more influence over how the scheme operates locally amid rising demand to buy homes through the scheme.
The LGA dubbed the situation as “a chronic shortage of social housing” as more than 123,000 households are in temporary accommodation and more than 1.33 million households face a social housing waiting list.
“It has become increasingly impossible for local authorities to replace homes as quickly as they are being sold under the current RTB scheme,” it said.
In response to this shortage, the LGA has urged the government to reform RTB yet further to ensure that the scheme is fit for purpose and does not hinder the development of good quality, sustainable social housing stock.
Powers the LGA believes should be handed to local authorities include:
- Power to set the discount rate
- Ability to exempt newly built properties in perpetuity and protect their investment in retrofitting or improving their existing stock
- Allowing councils to retain their RTB receipts indefinitely to ensure delivery of replacement homes is maximised.
After the Autumn Budget reverted discounts to pre-2012 levels, councils have seen an increase in the number of RTB applications made by social housing tenants in response to the reductions in discounts available on their properties.
“Some local authorities reported receiving more applications in that 3-week period than over the course of a typical year,” the LGA claimed.
This has resulted in significant resourcing challenges for local authorities as they try to meet the statutory timescales for accepting applications.
The LGA also called on the Government to undertake research to determine how many applications were made across the country in this time period, how many applications will be accepted, and the resultant number of social housing stock lost.
It then needs to clarify what steps it intends to take to offset this loss of social housing stock, the Association said.
Cllr Adam Hug, LGA housing spokesperson said: "We are pleased with the steps the Government has taken so far, but we urge further reform to ensure local authorities can properly manage the RTB scheme and address the chronic shortage of social housing.
"It is crucial that local authorities are given the power to shape the scheme to fit the needs of their communities.
“Councils want to work with government to deliver the social homes our communities need and help relieve the financial this shortage is placing on councils, and further RTB reform is a crucial way to do this.”
Harry Rodd
