News from the Residential Property Investor, the bi-monthly magazine for RLA members other artilces from the August / September 2002 issue RPI news archive

Council tenants set to lose right to buy - August / September 2002

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, has proposed that the Labour party should renege on its 1997 promise to continue sitting tenants' rights to buy their council homes.

More than 1 1/2 million tenants have bought their own homes since 1980, half of whom still live in them, according to a front-page article in The Guardian on 29 July. In 1998 the Government reduced the greatest amount of discount available to sitting tenants from £50,000 to £38,000 and in July Lord Rooker, the housing minister, told a Labour conference 'we did not say "you can buy your home and then become a landlord". There are some quite clear abuses going on'.

To avoid opposition in Parliament, the newspaper said that ministers believe they can take away the right to buy without enacting legislation by 'suspending' it council by council. London and the south east are mooted as the first areas where this would happen.

An announcement is expected at Prescott's 'urban summit' in October in Birmingham.

Because of the article, councils have been deluged by applications from tenants to buy their homes. Islington Council told The Times that it was getting as many applications in a day as it was getting in a week.

The Government has moved to suppress speculation that right to buy would go, with Prescott's office saying that 'there is no official review of right to buy'.
 

other artilces from the August / September 2002 issue

• Homes shortage?
• Legislation to blame, not estate agents
• Landlords' great flood threat
• Council tenants set to lose right to buy
• Estate agent confesses
• Minister announces changes to housing benefit
• Up the smoke
• Scots council angry at landlord
• Insulating the property value
• In brief