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?

It’s ridiculous, a much better solution would be to ban and phase out BTL mortgages and bring in rent control. It’s immoral that the have nots are paying mortgages for ‘haves’ to acquire more wealth. There are so many people renting who could afford to own the same property if they could just get the initial deposit.

So where do we draw the line? If you give a leg up to one person who earns say 15k, you have to give help to someone who earns 25k but can't afford to buy because the prices are insane. But they probably wouldn't qualify for council housing either, so have to rent privately, at extortionate rates.

We can't give everyone a house of their own. It's not possible. But hey if you think it is, how do we do it? Drop prices on houses? That will make current home owners so happy..

Current homeowners should be grateful they own a home rather than wanting to make profit on it. As a homeowner I'd be completely fine with my house dropping in value, I'm just bloody grateful that I own it and I'll always have a roof over my head. Owning a home is privilege.

Is there owt left to buy?

Is this different to the right to buy?

I know Tories had right to buy in their manifesto at last gen election for HA tenants and there was pilot schemes in parts of the country.

I have been a HA tenant for 22 years and don't like this idea but can see why people use it.

It’s not exactly a policy that screams “we’re a party full of exciting new idea.” But at this point asset selling can’t come as a surprise with this lot.

If people decline an offer do they get removed from the list?

Have they learnt nothing from doing this previously? Unless the HA's are forced to build a new house for every one they sell off then it won't end well.

They should be building nee social
housing not decreasing the amount.
Utter disgrace, so glad Scotland scrapped right to buy and are busing more houses.

I know someone who bought at an 80k discount. Under the rules, they sold 5 years later with that 80k equity in their pocket and then the money made on it and bought elsewhere.

they sold it back to the council they bought it from!!!!

They don't care. Fewer non profits, more "free market" enterprise = more money sloshing around at the top for them and their mates.

I doubt they have much invested in this actually happening, they just want a news cycle focused on something other than Tories watching porn at work or selling seats in the Lords to oligarchs.

Sometimes policies like that hang about long enough for someone to implement them though.

It’s just as bad an idea as it was 40 years ago. I was horrified when I saw this earlier.

Aside from anything else, I don't really understand why those who utilise right to buy get a discount on the property they're buying.

I have an elderly family member who's been in council housing all their life. One of their children has essentially bought the home on their behalf in the last few years with a £100k discount.

When said family member passes away the property will be sold at full market value. The only condition is that if they sell within 10 years of the initial purchase, they have to offer the council the opportunity to buy it back from them....at full market value! (If they sell within 5 years of initial purchase I believe they have to pay back a percentage of the discount)

Councils are so desperate for homes they're actively buying back homes sold under right to buy in many London boroughs.

How does this make sense and how is this fair for anyone? A council property has been removed from the pool of social housing. They've "lost" £100k on it and if they wanted to buy it back, they'd be paying full market value for it.

It is a terrible idea :(

@SamphirethePogoingStickerist

Interesting post. Why do you think landlords are selling up? I've heard about this anecdotally, some l/l' s have just had enough due to various factors. Rent arrears/defaults due to Covid evictions ban via courts, too much legislation & costs ie EPC ratings, S21 ban in pipeline. Be interested to hear your take on it as someone in the property game.

@netofmums see all of that would have been fine if the council had been able to take the monies from the sale and invest or balance it against new asset acquisition. A lifelong tenant who has put a lot of money into the property (via rent if nothing else) gets the benefit of the property, presumably then relieves the state of financial pressure in other ways eg funds their own care or at least doesn't claim housing benefit, pension credit, ctb and so on. They're a lifelong tenant so the property would never have been available to anyone else anyway, no one's losing out, the council's got a bit of bunce to set against more buying/building, it's all good.

But for that one massive flaw.

There are ways to sort out the housing crisis. This isn't one of them.

Bread and circuses to distract from their enormous fuck-ups.

Not sure if the discount is because they have paid the rent on the property for x number of years but again hugely unfair to others who have been paying private rents whilst trying to save to get on the housing ladder.
I have a work colleague who secured council property at a very young age as she was a single mum having had her first baby at 15. Then went on to have 3 more kids , met her now dh years later, both now on good incomes and can buy the house at a huge discount. Effectively the rent was mainly paid by housing benefit for years whilst her kids were little and she now benefits from a huge discount. How is this in any way fair to other young people who go to Uni, wait years to have a family and save for years to buy a home and have to pay 100k more than her ? It is so unfair. Of course people in her situation should be supported when they need the help but between her and her new dh they earn a very decent salary. i could even kind of understand it if she had paid the rent for years but it was all paid for her.

Yes this is a good point. Thanks for helping me to view it from a different perspective.

I don’t agree with RTB and I say that as a HA tenant.

I also think there should be a limit on how many properties there are in a place that are holiday lets. Where I live, it’s been identified that the local area needs x number of homes to meet the local
housing needs - which just so happens to be the exact number of holiday lets in the area. It’s an absolute joke.

It is absolutely galling. It must cause so much resentment.

I have been a HA tenant for 22 years and don't like this idea but can see why people use it

So can I, but let's hope the ones using it aren't the same who've moaned that there isn't enough housing available
It's all very well blaming Boris with whom we can expect no better, but if the principle's important then presumably there'll be no queues to buy ... as if