Millions more social housing tenants may soon be able to buy their home at a discount under Conservative plans to expand the right-to-buy scheme.
The plan, which the Conservative party hopes will improve its popularity among working-class voters ahead of the election, could see the flagship housing policy expanded to include all tenants of housing association homes.
The right-to-buy scheme was introduced in 198o and allowed tenants to buy their council houses at a discount. More than 2m homes have been sold under the scheme. However, it does not apply to many tenants whose home is owned by housing associations, the not-for-profit landlords which now own the majority of social homes in the UK.
The scheme was highly popular in the 1980s but as the discounts decreased its popularity faded. In 2012, the scheme was reinvigorated when discounts were increased with the promise that for every affordable home sold, a new affordable home would be built using the money raised.
However, figures released recently revealed that target has been wildly missed. More than 26,000 homes have been sold to tenants since the discount was increased three years ago but just 2,712 replacement homes have been built.
An investigation by the Daily Mirror also found that one-third of homes sold under the right-to-buy scheme were now owned by private landlords as buyers cashed in by taking advantage of the huge discounts before selling their homes on the open market at a large profit or renting them out.
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