The government should strengthen the restrictions on the right to buy and allow councils to use capital receipts to replace homes, the Northern Housing Consortium is to tell ministers.
The hardline stance was adopted by the consortium at the directors' sounding board meeting on 27 February and will be put to the government ahead of the comprehensive spending review in July.

It follows research showing that right to buy sales in the North have more than doubled over the past 10 years, overtaking the South for the first time (HT 20 February, page 9).

Hugh Broadbent, chief executive of Oldham arm's-length manager First Choice Homes and vice-chair of the consortium, said: "There is an increasing recognition that homes are being lost and that this will have an impact.

"We have got an opportunity to react quickly rather than wait to see what happens."

The consortium wants ministers to review right to buy discounts and crack down on companies that encourage tenants to buy their homes and sell them on at a profit. It also wants the rules on capital receipts to be changed, allowing councils to spend all the money on building social housing.

Source

Housing Today