The Conservatives’ manifesto pledge to extend right to buy to housing associations has caused a stir on the front pages and social media.
David Cameron launched the pledge in the West Country on Tuesday alongside the Conservatives’ other election promises. The policy could see tens of thousands of housing association tenants a year take up a discount on buying a housing association property that will be capped at just over £102,700 in London and £77,000 for the rest of England.
It would also come with a requirement for councils to sell their most valuable properties.
But how has this policy affected communities around the UK?
Since the Housing Act was passed in 1980, millions of people have taken advantage of the right to buy scheme introduced by Margaret Thatcher. Critics of the policy say many of the homes bought from councils are actually now privately rented.
In 2013, an investigation by the Mirror found a third of ex-council homes are now owned by private landlords. They also found the son of a former Conservative minister owned at least 40 at the time.
On Twitter, plenty of people have been chiming in with their thoughts on the policies. Others, like activist Rebecca Winson, have shared their stories of how right to buy affected the council estate where she grew up:
I will give you a dispatch from the council estate I grew up on as to how #righttobuy works...
— Rebecca Winson (@rebeccawinson) April 14, 2015
Of them, at least half are now private rentals. About 10% are holiday homes (yeah I know, but it's the Lake District) #righttobuy
— Rebecca Winson (@rebeccawinson) April 14, 2015
It also, btw, definitely didn't help the poorest get on the ladder. We could never afford #righttobuy.
— Rebecca Winson (@rebeccawinson) April 14, 2015
We’d like to hear how right to buy has affected you and your community. Have you bought a home through Right to Buy? Did the policy help you? Or has it created fractures in the community as described above? Have your say via the form below, or submit your story via GuardianWitness.
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