Right to Buy.

[Differentforgirls]

Was “Right to Buy” a policy that has created the current housing crisis? I think it was.

Was it a mistake or a deliberate act to push more people into private rented. Look how many politicians have large property portfolios.

The number of houses sold under RTB is so infinitely tiny compared to the total number of houses in the UK - it will not have had an impact on house prices. Guaranteed. If you don’t agree, then feel free to go look up your local council’s statement of accounts on their website - they publish the number of Council Houses sold on there. It’s probably only single, or double digit figures, max.

There are so many other reasons that will have contributed to the situation we now find ourselves in.

That's not how things work in my council. Even when I was technically homeless five years ago due to the council demolishing my home - I was never offered a new build on the same land. One man out of around 800 people got one and that's only because he wouldn't leave. Everyone else was decanted to different parts of the area (we can't buy in Scotland now anyway).

I don't think right to buy should have stopped councils building. There are people who don't want to buy their council home. There will be people in insecure accommodation who wouldn't have built up enough years to buy at a massive discount - and couldn't afford to

There are people in my area who have been on the council waiting list for 15 years now

I think the aim was to push people into mortgage rather than private rent.

No thought was given that many of these houses would end up in the private rent market.
No thought was given that so many quality jobs would go in the heavy industry sectors. Or that so many people wouldn't be able to get mortgages in the future.
Or that so many people would end up relying on top-up benefits. Which the country ends up paying which then ends up in the private sector.

If you think about it if someone gets housing benefit, it come out the public purse and if its paid to a council it sort of stays in the public purse. Goes round in circles.

When that money is paid to a private landlord, some might make its way back as a form of tax (income tax, corporation tax) but a huge chunk is going to line someone's pocket or a mortgage lender.

I will also say the level of immigration hasn't helped the housing crisis either.

The thing is, IMO, is that so many RTB properties are not lived in by the original buyers - often they’re sold off within a few years, and then rented out for rather more than the council rates - often a lot more, so making them less affordable, or unaffordable, for people on low incomes.

Incidentally, council houses were being sold off well before Thatcher. Around 10 years ago a dd bought an ex council house - a probate sale - and after a good old nose on the Land Reg we found that the former owners had bought it in 1971 - well before Thatcher.
They had paid almost exactly 1% of what dd paid!

It was one woman's obsession with eradicating state ownership of anything. What couldnt be sold was destroyed. And a WC vote catcher that perpetuated the myth of social mobility.

Not sure where you are but where I am all the nice areas were bought up. The areas which remained council were the cheaply built flats that nobody wanted to live in.

And often it was children or even grandchildren buying there retired older generations houses.

RTB was good for the individuals who benefited and did allow some social mobility (often more for their children than for the purchasers themselves). It was a policy of its time, the population was relatively stable, and housebuilding was high in the private sector.

The big issue (imo) was the ideological decision by the Thatcher government to restrict councils from using the proceeds to build replacement council housing. This was entirely ideological and linked to the declining number of private landlords (around 8% of the housing stock was privately rented at the time). The Thatcher government had a deliberate policy of expending this sector; following RTB, they removed many tenant protections that existed at the time and introduced shorthold tenancies instead.

New Labour did not abolish RTB, but it did reduce its scope in some areas and periods. By that point, much of the most desirable council housing had already been sold. They also facilitated the transfer of large amounts of council stock to housing associations, which provided some protection from RTB and, to a degree, from government interference. However, they did not fund significant levels of new council house building—it didn’t fit the ‘aspirational’ New Labour approach—and instead presided over the expansion of buy-to-let, which did. They also oversaw increased immigration without adequately addressing how housing supply would respond, assuming the market would absorb the demand.

The last Conservative government were arguably even more damaging in that they lacked a coherent long-term housing strategy, relying instead on a series of short-term, populist measures. They reinvigorated RTB and proposed extending it to housing associations (even more dangerous, IMO, given how housing associations are funded). At the same time, rather than consistently supporting private landlords to fill the gap, they introduced tax and regulatory changes that led some landlords to exit the market. And, to top it all off, they bowed to NIMBY pressures, making it harder to build new homes for purchase, meaning they consistently fell short of their housing targets.

Along with not replacing the stock of social housing, yes of course.
Buy to let mortgages also.
landlordism, air b and b, second homes.
It needs the most almighty shake up.

All of these questions are no brainers-
has privatisation made our waters worse, yes
has privatisation made our energy policy terrible, yes
has privatisation made the trains ludicrous, yes
has private ownership of state property made the housing crisis worse, yes
has privatisation increased inequalities, yes

And I will add
Steel is nearly all imported.
Power stations are being built by the French.
Oil refineries no more.

So many mistakes which will take decades to undo.

A year before I bought my flat (2016). Out of the 1300 people who lived in the area I lived in - two people owned by the time of demolition (2020). There are around 250 homes that a local housing association have that used to be council and these are much nicer than the one I lived in, more improvements done and better maintained - but few people bought theirs as well even though the market value was around 26k

There could be a number of reasons why people didn't buy - potentially the fact that the flats didn't go up in value much if at all could have been an issue - but not everyone chooses to buy even if they have the means do so. My mum lives in a large council estate and some people bought - and others didn't.

Don’t agree with the right to buy and I speak of someone whose parents benefitted from it! I remember a friend’s parents trying to convince her to buy their council house. It is the most ricidulous policy going.

In the short term it wouldn't, but in the longer term it would. Bearing in mind the scheme started over 40 years ago and many tenants were middle aged or even elderly when they bought, houses would have reverted to the council when tenants died or went into sheltered housing or care homes. As it is they are out of council ownership in perpetuity as they form part of the former tenants estate.

In addition, previously some tenants would have bought privately when their circumstances improved. With RTB, some tenants would buy their council house with substantial discount as a stepping stone to a better private house.

I don't think it was such a bad thing but depending on local circumstances. As government policy, it forced all councils to do what some councils were already doing. In some areas, like the New Towns, it made sense. In London, it made no sense at all. Also the level of discount was ridiculously high, so didn't generate anything like enough income for houses to be replaced.

I don't agree its ridiculous. It's allowed some people who would never have been able to buy property buy their own home.

I understand that some houses might have to be sold to pay care home fees but why would a home revert back to the council if someone died - I assume you mean if they have no living relatives?

Agreed and it always amazes me how anyone purporting to be on the left politically can defend RTB. It took a commonly held asset which had been paid for by public money and put it straight into private hands at a bargain basement price.

Half of the council estates are owned by private landlords now. It’s shocking really.

If it had remained a council house it would have reverted back and could be allocated to someone else? I think that’s what the poster is saying.

Ah ok

Perhaps because you've been in the situation where you have the opportunity to buy when you couldn't afford to do elsewhere. My mum was a teacher - she retired 10 years ago. She took a lump sum on retirement but during her working career she didn't earn a huge wage. It took her until the end of her career to get to the top of the pay scale. She gets 23k a year between two pensions. Not paying rent in retirement was the biggest factor in her buying

For me - I lived in a poor estate where no one wanted to buy the flats - or had opportunities to do so. There were three of us who owned out of a population of just over 800. If I had had a partner earning or if I had been on decent wages earlier on in my working career - I would have bought elsewhere.

It took my brother living with my mum for 18 months to get a deposit together to be able to buy a flat after a relationship split and he works full time - he's on around 30k a year

Im not anywhere near right wing just because I bought a flat in an area that had to be demolished because of the amount of voids in it

I completely understand the reasons why people don't like RTB but sometimes circumstances are what leads people to buying their council property

I personally have more of an issue with people buying a property and then renting it out to build a property empire than I do with someone buying their council house to live in.

@Differentforgirls

It is.

The entirety of the UK housing market is an outright scandal - particularly in England when you look at how just 1% of England’s population owns half of England’s land and the majority of land in total is unregistered with Land Reg- ie untaxable. See https://whoownsengland.org/ Its one of my ‘favourite’ facts but James Dyson owns more land than the King!

I honestly feel so disheartened about how uninformed people appear to be on this topic.

Personally I've explained the reasons why I bought my council flat - and I no longer own. I'm back in council housing - I don't think I'm uninformed. I bought my flat at a point in my life to save me money in rent - because despite being very well qualified - I've worked in several jobs where I haven't been paid particularly well. It would have been much easier for me to buy a flat that wasn't council if I had had a partner earning

My gran and grandpa were saving to buy a house when he died and she couldn't afford to do so on her part time wages. It is tough for a lot of people to get on the property ladder