NEW LEGISLATION which will abolish one of the most controversial policies of the 1980s was introduced in the National Assembly this week.
The Right to Buy legislation was introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1980, though individual councils could sell properties to tenants prior to this.
While some credited the policy, which was one of the bedrocks of the Thatcher administrations, with raising money for public finances, and giving people their only opportunity to own a home, it was also criticised for creating a shortage of affordable rented property and artificially inflating the housing market. It led to the sale of 139,000 Local Authority-owned houses in Wales – around 45% of the available stock – since 1980.
In enacting this Bill, Wales will follow from Scotland, who banned Right to Buy in 2016.
The Bill will provide for the Right to Buy, the Preserved Right to Buy and the Right to Acquire for tenants of local authorities and registered social landlords to be abolished after a period of at least one year following Royal Assent.
In introducing the Bill, the Welsh Government aims to protect the Welsh stock of social housing from further reduction, ensuring it is available to provide safe, secure and affordable housing for people who are unable to take advantage of the housing market to buy or rent a home.
To encourage the development of new social housing, the Bill, if passed by the Assembly, will provide that the Right to Buy and Right to Acquire will end for new homes two months after Royal Assent. This will help encourage social landlords to build new homes in the knowledge that they will not be at risk of being sold after only a relatively short period.
The Bill complements other actions being taken by the Welsh Government to increase the supply of housing.
Ahead of the Bill’s introduction, Communities Secretary Carl Sargeant said: “Our social housing is a valuable resource, but it is under considerable pressure. The size of the stock has declined significantly since 1980 when the Right to Buy was introduced. The number of sales is equivalent to 45% of the social housing stock in 1981. This has resulted in people in housing need, many of whom are vulnerable, waiting longer to access a home they can afford.
“The Bill supports the Welsh Government’s wider aims of a more prosperous and fairer Wales, helping to tackle poverty by protecting our stock of social housing from further reduction.
“I recognise the proposal affects existing tenants and we will ensure tenants are made aware of the effect of the Bill in good time before abolition takes place. The Bill will require the Welsh Government to publish information, which social landlords in turn must provide to every affected tenant, within two months of the Bill receiving Royal Assent.
“We have set an ambitious target of creating 20,000 affordable homes in this term of government. Alongside social housing this will include schemes such as Help to Buy and Rent to Own to enable people on modest incomes to own their own homes. We are supporting low cost home ownership and we are expanding the social housing stock. Abolishing the Right to Buy will complement these other actions we are taking in order to support people in housing need.”
Councillor Dyfed Edwards, the Welsh Local Government Association spokesperson for Housing, said: “At a time of acute shortages of social rented homes, and with many thousands of people currently on housing waiting lists, the proposal from the Welsh Government to abolish right to buy is a welcome step in tackling a growing problem in Wales. It is essential that people’s access is improved to good quality social rented housing in order to enhance people’s lives, and also to revitalise local communities”
The plans were backed by Plaid Cymru. A party spokesperson said: “We welcome the proposed move to scrap it altogether and regret that the Labour Welsh Government has taken so long to abolish this most Thatcherite of policies.”
However, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Welsh Conservatives were less enthusiastic about the proposal.
Party Housing Spokesman, David Melding AM , said: “The Welsh Government’s bid to end the right of social housing tenants to buy their homes begins its journey through the National Assembly for Wales today.
“Labour’s decision to revoke the Right to Buy in Wales will undermine social mobility, depriving thousands of families of an opportunity to get on the housing ladder for the first time.
“It’s easy for Welsh Government ministers to lecture, but this legislation will simply serve to deny hardworking families an opportunity to own their own homes.
“There is a severe shortage of affordable housing in Wales because Labour hasn’t built enough affordable homes, and not because council tenants have had a chance to buy theirs.
“The Right to Buy Scheme doesn’t deplete the housing stock, it empowers people to take a stake in the home in which they already live.”
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