Housing bill to include right-to-buy extension in Queen's speech
|
Version 0 of 1. Plans to allow housing association tenants to buy the homes they live in at a discount will be included in the Queen’s speech on Wednesday, the government has announced. The housing bill, which contains a number of key Conservative election pledges, will include an extension of Margaret Thatcher’s right-to-buy scheme, allowing England’s 1.3 million housing association tenants to purchase their homes with the same discounts offered to council tenants. About 800,000 housing association tenants already have a right to acquire their homes with smaller discounts, but the government’s plans would see them able to take up discounts that are capped at just over £102,700 in London and £77,000 for the rest of England. The policy attracted significant criticism when it was first announced before the general election earlier this month. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and property company Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) joined many housing associations in warning that the Tory plan would not address the chronic housing shortage. The National Housing Federation said the policy could cost up to £5.8bn a year because compensation would have to be paid to housing associations for forcing them to offer stock to tenants at below-market rates. The proposed discount would be worth 35% of the market value of a house after a housing association tenant has been in it for three years, with the discount rising 1% for every extra year the tenant has rented in the public sector. In the case of a flat, the discount would be worth 50% of the market value after the first three years, rising by 2% each year afterwards. Councils will also be forced to sell about 5% of their most valuable housing once it becomes vacant and build more affordable, cheaper properties with the proceeds. The government argues that this will mean the number of affordable homes will double for each home sold, thereby increasing the national housing supply. The remaining funds raised from the sale of valuable council stock will go towards freeing up brownfield land for development. Right-to-build plans, which will also be in the housing bill, would give people the right to be allocated land with planning permission to self-build or commission a home to be built for them. The bill will also include the Tory manifesto pledge to build 200,000 starter homes, which will be available at a 20% discount to first-time buyers under 40. Greg Clark, the communities secretary, said the bill would give more than a million people a helping hand on to the housing ladder. The housing minister, Brandon Lewis, said: “Anyone who works hard and wants to get on the property ladder should have the opportunity to do so, which is why the Queen’s speech will include measures so a million more people have the chance to do that. “And with housing starts at their highest since 2007, we’ll take steps that will get workers on sites and keep the country building.” |