Labour should commit to ending Right to Buy

Sign our statement

Although housing wasn’t discussed at the recent Labour conference both the 2019 and 2021 conferences passed housing resolutions which included the call for Labour to commit to ending Right to Buy (RTB). That commitment was included in the 2019 Manifesto. At the 2021 conference Lucy Powell, then Shadow Minister responsible for housing, said that it was the right thing to do and it was what the members wanted. In Scotland and Wales RTB has already been ended.

In her speech to the recent Labour conference Lisa Nandy said that ““the idea of a home for life handed on in common ownership to future generations is an idea worth fighting for.” We agree. But if that’s the case then Labour should commit to ending Right to Buy. With less than 1.6 million council homes left in England, the acute shortage of homes available, and extortionate house prices¹, force many people into the expensive and often poor quality private rented sector (PRS). Of those homes sold under RTB an estimated 40% of them end up in the PRS. Private rents, much higher than council rents, push up the housing benefit bill.

Despite many councils changing the criteria for being on the housing waiting list (finessing the figures downwards) there are more than 1.1 million households on the list. However, last year there were less than 80,000 new tenancies issued by councils.

Even though there is some building is taking place, councils have to build/buy 12,000 or more council homes a year just to replace homes sold and demolished (see the table below). That many have not been built since 1990.

At the recent conference Lisa Nandy told a fringe meeting that the policy is under review. Therefore the Labour Campaign for Council Housing has produced a statement (see below) calling on Labour to commit to ending RTB. We are asking party members at all levels, trades unions, and tenant organisations, to sign.

Ending RTB is cost free. It would have an immediate impact. By stopping the loss of homes all new council building will increase the housing stock and open up the prospect of beginning to cut the housing waiting lists.

From talking to senior figures we know they are wary of ending RTB because they fear the Tories will accuse them of being opposed to “aspiration”. It’s an argument which can easily be countered. Before RTB was introduced council housing used to facilitate home ownership because the reasonable rents enabled tenants to save up a deposit to buy a home on the market. They handed the keys back to the council and somebody else from the waiting list took over the tenancy.

Before RTB there was no generalised stigma attached to council housing. There is nothing superior about owning a home as opposed to renting one. You are not a lesser person if you can’t afford or don’t want to own a home. Moreover, a mortgage can be a source of insecurity and stress, as more people are finding out as interests rates climb above 6%.

Today too many people face dire circumstances where their aspirations are being able to feed their children and eat, themselves, as well; to be able to afford to turn on the central heating; to be able to enjoy life a little instead of being weighed down with anxiety and dread of the future. One of the key means of improving their lives would be to enable more of them to have a council home with a secure tenancy and a rent they do not struggle to pay.

Ending RTB and funding the building of council housing on a large scale (the 2019 and 2021 conferences called for a commitment of 100,000 council homes a year) would take hundreds of thousands of households out of the market and most likely bring down prices of homes for rent and sale.

Help us amplify the message to Labour that there can be no resolution of the housing crisis without ending Right to Buy. It’s a precondition to halting the loss of stock and beginning to increase it instead.

What can you do?

• Sign the statement yourself and encourage other members to.
• Ask your Labour Party branch/CLPs to support it.
• Ask your Council Labour Group to support it.
• Ask your trade union branch/organisation to support it.
• Ask Tenant groups to support it.

Statement: Labour should commit to ending Right to Buy

We the undersigned agree with Lisa Nandy that “the idea of a home for life handed on in common ownership to future generations is an idea worth fighting for.” That requires the ending of the disastrous Right to Buy policy. In Scotland and Wales it has already been ended.

In England there are now less than 1.6 million council homes left. Even if councils were able to keep all receipts for sales they would have to build more than 12,000 council homes a year just to replace homes sold and demolished. That many haven’t been built since 1990.

RTB not only means the loss of homes but councils losing rental stream, leaving them with less money for the maintenance and renewal of their existing stock.

Many homes sold under RTB end up in the private rented sector; an estimated 40%. This drives up the housing benefit bill because of the much higher private rents.

Labour conferences in 2019 and 2021 voted overwhelmingly for RTB to be ended. It was incorporated in the 2019 manifesto. At the 2021 conference Lucy Powell said that it is the right thing to do and that is what the members want.

Ending RTB will stop the loss of homes and ensure that for the first time since it was introduced all new council house building will increase the stock and enable the waiting lists to begin to fall. It is also without cost and will stop the loss of rental income to councils.

We therefore call on Labour to commit to ending RTB when in government.”

To sign the statement email labourcouncilhousingcampaign@gmail.com

Download a PDF of the statement here:

1Both median and lower quartile new build house prices in England are more than ten times earnings.