Housing bodies in the south-east have once again called on the government to give councils and post-transfer housing associations the power to limit the right to buy.
The South-east Regional Housing Forum has written to housing minister Lord Rooker demanding that he reconsider his decision not to change the right-to-buy rules at the moment.

The forum wants local authorities and housing associations to have the freedom to limit discounts and suspend them in areas of high demand, as recommended by the housing taskforce earlier this year.

Forty-one local authorities, mainly in and around London, were allowed to cut discounts from £38,000 to £16,000 in March. Social landlords are now calling for the same powers, and have the support of the South-east England Regional Assembly, the Regional Housing Forum and the National Housing Federation.

Sharon Hedges, director of the NHF's Southern region and a member of the regional assembly, said: "Right-to-buy stock losses are a critical problem for social housing providers in the South-east and more needs to be done to address these losses. We will continue to work with partners across the region to keep it at the front of the agenda."

A spokeswoman for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister said changes to right to buy had not been ruled out in the long term. She said: "It is one of the many things being looked at by the housing taskforce. It will report back by the end of summer."

Source

Housing Today