Right to Buy sales of council homes in England nearly doubled in 2025/26 to 14,275. There were 7,520 sold in 2024/25. The Labour government reduced discounts to tenants to between £16,000 and £38,000 (see the regional breakdown). The deadline for applications under the much higher discounts was November 21st 2024. Applications made before that date remain applicable even if the process was not completed before the end of 2024/25. Since there was a tight deadline for sales of March 31st for that financial year. Councils were inundated with applications; more than 63,000. It seems reasonable to assume that councils did not have time enough to deal with them all by the end of 2024/25, hence the much higher sales in 2025/26.
Replacements using RTB receipts were just 3,442; a loss of more than 10,000.
As ever, more family size homes were sold, than smaller homes. Three + bedrooms comprised 53% of sales; a consistent trend over the years.
Since councils are able to keep their RTB receipts now, they have had a one-off bonanza of £1.6 billion. However, this financial year is likely to see a steep decline in sales based on the much lower discounts, and a steep decline in RTB receipts. This will give us a clear indication of what level of sales will be usual for the lower discounts. Of course, whatever level they settle at, councils will still have to spend funding which would otherwise be available for existing council homes, on building replacements. Ending RTB as happened in Scotland and Wales is the only way to ensure that each new home built or bought increases the stock.
The total of RTB sales in England from 1980 to March 31st 2026 was 2,052,813.
August 8th 2026
Labour Campaign for Council Housing 