To think that Boris bringing back the 'Right to buy' scheme from the 80s is a terrible idea

[somewhereoverthechipshop]

Just this really. I think it's a slap in the face for all those private renters who cannot afford to buy a home, and just a horrible idea.
Boris Johnson mulls a new Right to Buy scheme as housebuilding hits the curb (cityam.com)

Not sure if link above works, but you can google it.
Evidently he is 'mulling over' the idea of bringing back Margaret Thatcher's scheme from the late 80s that decimated this country's council housing stock.
Just wondered what other people thought about it?

My late parents or inlaws didn't buy their council homes, they couldn't for a million different reasons and actually I felt good that whoever ended up in their ones when they all died would have had a chance of a council home.
Many of my friends and acquaintances have made loads of money on houses since the 80s , but the whole system is flawed and just vote buying for the Tories who hate anyone who can't be totally self sufficient. Plus many who did buy them all ended up moving away too.
It changed the area a lot and created a lot of wealth for some.

I live in a HA property. My son and I moved here because we needed housing desperately after a family crisis. Our social landlord is a large HA and as well as providing properties and maintaining them, they offer training courses, tenant's voice panels, social events for their elderly and disabled tenants and all tenants receive a newsletter showing how the HA performs against a number of measures. They are, in my opinion, a good social landlord.

Even if I could buy this house, I would not, because all I would do is make one less property available for people who may be in as desperate need as I was a few years ago.

Furthermore, we live on a terrace of perhaps ten houses. It is possible that three or four people could (perhaps) buy their homes, if the right to buy scheme came about (there is a right to buy scheme for HA properties already in existence, but that is beside the point). That would mean, three or four homes would have their doors painted a different colour to the rest, would grow little conservatories and would put lattice work around their windows to mark them out as 'bought' properties (we saw this happen in the eighties). Yet these bought properties would still be part of a terrace which is largely social housing, so little name plates will be added instead of numbers and larger cars would be parked on the paved front garden, in an effort to create even more distinction between 'homeowner' and 'HA tenant'.

Of course, the bought house could be a legacy for the children. Yet, it is more likely to be something that is sold to pay for care fees in old age.

So, I agree OP, Boris's proposal is nothing more than a vote grabber. I think Margaret Thatcher must have left him her book of tricks.

It's not only the 'right to buy ' making a comeback ( maybe) but also Grammar schools in areas where they don't exist much as an option for parents. It's as if I'm living in the past with all these different proposals.
I think they are just throwing things out there to see what sticks just now ( or vote winners)

Economic Housing Hub

Werent we promised throwback policies by Corbyn?

Not sure about Corbyn and the LP or their take on schools or the right to buy to be honest! I can't imagine that they would have had this in their manifesto , but I can't remember if they did or not.

They didnt, the implications was that Corbyn was going to send us back to the worse of the 70's, yet here we are with the Tories regressive greatest hits

Ahh, I see , yes ! Sorry
I know they wanted to renationalise a few things.

Like the railways, which the Tories have done by stealth.

PurassicJark I didn't buy it from the council, I bought it from the previous owner, I renovated it to make a home after it had stood empty for over a year after the owner got a disabled bungalow.

We are HA tenants, with no realistic hope of being able to buy. We live in a really expensive area (also very high prices for private rentals!) because of second home owners/holiday let's but local wages are pretty low (we've lived here all of our lives). I work in the NHS and hubby self employed but not megabucks. We both work really hard, full time, before anyone calls us lazy or money grabbers.

Realistically on what we earn it might take us 10 years to save the substantial amount required for a deposit locally then we'd be paying a lot more than what we currently pay in rent for a mortgage - not appealing. Haven't got anyone to help us out with a deposit (neither sets of parents are well off). We've never bothered to save for a deposit because our tenancy is as secure as it gets and we've never thought home ownership would happen for us.

So basically I'm not ashamed to say that if BoJo's plan does become a reality we'll be grabbing it with both hands because there won't be a second chance for us. I agree in principle for the argument against it but no one else is helping us and we've been priced out of buying because of incomers from outside the area.

@WomanAnon

No one's helping you? You've got a secure, lifetime tenancy, is that not help?

A secure, lifetime tenancy that you're willing to take from the system, no that others in the future won't have that stability.

I get what you're saying @Applebee I really do, but if you were me and this chance to own your own property came along, literally once in a lifetime, would you honestly turn it down?

As long as they rebuild as many as they sell it's a great idea... Gives people a sense of pride and a way to own their own home.

I’m pretty left leaning but tax payer funded home ownership is too socialist for my taste.

When I was working, I knew a couple of tenants who could have afforded to buy their council homes but didn’t on principle. They were vastly outnumbered, often by people who were strong trade unionists and loathed Margaret Thatcher.

Apart from the shortage of social housing caused by RTB, I think its discriminatory. I worked on a council estate with highly desirable houses, a few were detached. Brick built and mortgageable, but not available to most people.

The reason HA was not included in RYB was the land belonged to the local authority and was rented by the HA at a 'peppercorn rent' of around £1 for a set lease term. I would imagine this is why the government now wants to expand the RTB to include HA. Some homes will now belong to the local authorities and they will be liable for upkeep

Yes it is unreasonable that this should be opened up because many people can't get a HA or council home but can't save for a mortgage because they are paying over the odds in private rentals.

Why not make a compulsory for private landlords to their longstanding tenants to sell at say, 40% of market price. Why should the HA/taxpayers foot the bill if private landlords are exempt?

Not really just poor landlord though, poor tenant as this would make the shortage of rental property worse. Having large scale organizations like pension funds etc renting out property is a good idea.

Working people so get housing benefit (well uc housing element) if their income is low enough.

I don’t think right to buy at a huge discount is a good idea nor is right to buy a good idea at the moment with such a shortage of housing. However I do think it’s best to have mixed areas and the right to buy at a small discount after a while (provided another property is built with the proceeds) is a good idea.

Tories increased the discounts on RTB when Cameron got in. For council properties its been massively increased now and increased RTB sales - govt do at least part fund some new builds now and allow the money from RTB to part fund. But alot of the cost of new council homes comes from councils budgets - to build more homes to be forced to sell off cheaply.

RTB massively encourages tenancy fraud as well.

Last time they were going to introduce RTB for all HA tenants the councils were going to have to foot the bill as the state can't just steal private company/charity HA assets - they need to pay compensation for the full value to the HA. Who is paying the compensation? Your local authority!

This govt continually makes decisions which simply add to the housing crisis.
This will do the same.

On the fence too, we are in HA, and very happy. But really would need to move now as getting overcrowded as kids grow up, but little or nothing available, lists are very long and exchanges never work out.
So if we had a very good discount it would make sense for us to buy, then sell n get a bigger place.
No other option really, we arent allowed to extend and private rent is not secure at all.

I live in a highly desirable area, in a private let. My landlord is good & rent is fair for market (however considerably more expensive than council) I look every day to see if any council houses are available in my area as I cannot reasonably settle here - I could be evicted at any moment, my landlord could sell, my house really really needs upgraded and whilst I dont mind decorating I dont want to plough thousands into it, not knowing if I'll be here in a year. No houses have been available in this area in over 8 years- I submitted a freedom of info request to the council to ask how many properties they had let out to someone in my situation (adequately housed in a private let) in the past 5 years and the answer was NIL. Not one. So realistically I have no hope of getting a secure tenancy in the area I live and work but I also wont ever be able to afford to buy so I have to hope they don't sell. It's a privileged position compared to some but it's also a really shitty way to live. I could probably move to a cheaper area but my kids are settled at school here and their only living grandparent picks them up from school twice a week - which I rely on as childcare is also expensive. So to summarise, I would prefer that any housing stock that's left isn't sold and I may one day have a hope in hell of having a secure home of my own.

It seems so retrograde. RTB has been abolished in Scotland.