Oxford City Council is drawing up plans to establish a private housing company after new regulations in the Housing and Planning Bill forced it to abandon a 1,000-home building programme.
The council estimates that the extension of right to buy to housing association tenants, which is set out in the bill, will result in the loss of 95 homes per year, a rate that is roughly double the 47 homes it lost during the fiscal year 2014-15.
Under the new rules, housing associations will be compensated for the discount offered on right-to-buy disposals through the sale of high-value council housing, which local authorities now have a duty to consider.
Ed Turner, deputy leader of the council, said the policy – together with cuts to social rents – had created a £36.5m funding gap over the next four years that had scuppered its development plans.
The high cost of land in Oxford was also likely to deter housing associations from building new homes in the area, he said.
Instead the council plans to establish a private development company that would be exempt from the right to buy, unless a special direction was made by the secretary of state.
A report detailing options for operating the company is expected to be published by the end of March.
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