One week left to have your say on changes to Right to Buy

Communities and Tackling Poverty Minister, Lesley Griffiths, is encouraging people to have their say on plans to end Right to Buy before the consultation closes next week.

Earlier this year, the Minister published a White Paper setting out the Welsh Government’s intention to end Right to Buy and Right to Acquire in order to protect Wales’ social housing stock.

Right to Buy and Right to Acquire allow eligible social housing tenants to buy their council or housing association home at a discount of up to £16,000. The consultation also sets out the Government’s plans to halve the current maximum discount to £8,000 from July 2015.

Over the past 30 years, Right to Buy has resulted in a significant reduction in social housing stock. Between 1981 and 2014, 138,423 council homes were sold – this is a 45% reduction in the social housing available when the policy was first introduced.

Lesley Griffiths said:

“Our supply of homes is under considerable pressure and we are still seeing social rented properties being taken out of our housing stock because of the Right to Buy, which is forcing many vulnerable people to wait longer for a home. This is why decisive action is needed to protect our social housing to make sure it is available for those who need it most.

“With a week to go until the consultation on the future of Right to Buy closes, I encourage everyone in Wales to take part and let us know their views.”

This week, the Minister also approved a request from Swansea Council to suspend the Right to Buy and Right to Acquire for five years to help tackle local housing pressures.

Speaking about her decision, the Minister added:

“Approving Swansea’s application to suspend the Right to Buy in its area will help the authority to safeguard its social housing stock as part of its ongoing action to meet local people’s housing needs.”

Cllr David Hopkins, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing, said:

“Over the past decade, more than 1,500 council houses in Swansea have been sold under the Right to Buy scheme. This has led to a significant shortage of affordable housing in the city, which is why we applied to the Welsh Government to suspend the scheme.

“As a council, one of our key objectives is tackling poverty. This successful application will help us make further progress by helping meet demand for social housing and reducing the decline in the number of council properties available to rent.

“We’ve also started detailed work on a strategy for more Council housing locally which will include an assessment of the type of accommodation to be built, where they should be provided and the available funding options. This means, within a short time, new Council housing will be built in Swansea for the first time in a generation.”