Time is up for Right to Buy says Greens

Revelations that Mrs Thatcher's Right to Buy scheme has caused almost 40 per cent of former council homes to be sold on the cheap should lead to the scheme’s end according to the Green Party. But the Tory government intend to press on with extending the Right to Buy to Housing Association Homes.

This was a proposal in October 2013 Kris Hopkins, the then Tory Housing Minister, wrote that Housing Association Homes "have largely been provided with private money and not funded by the public purse and the government does not consider it would be reasonable to require Housing Associations to sell these properties at a discount". Kris Hopkins was the Housing Minister at the time of the general election when the Tories drastically u-turned their policy.

The Green party's call to end the Right to Buy came after Inside Housing magazine revealed today that information released under the Freedom of Information Act by 91 councils in England show “they have sold a total of 127,763 leasehold properties, with 47,994 leaseholders living at another address” giving a “strong indication” the home is being “sub-let”.

The Green Party’s housing spokesperson, Tom Chance said: "We need more social housing, not less, and for them to be treated as a place to live rather than as an investment. There are better ways to give tenants a share of a home's value without losing it to buy-to-let landlords. The government should phase out Right to Buy and explore alternatives like mutual home ownership, which gives people a chance to buy up a stake in their home and sell it back when they move out."

"We need to be providing another 100,000 social rented homes a year so that people on low incomes have some security and affordability." Mr Chance added.