The Tory Party’s proposal to extend right-to-buy to tenants of housing associations has been attacked by Drivers Jonas.
The consultancy, which represents over 100 housing associations, said the policy was an “ill-thought through, short-sighted, short-term fix” which amounted to “selling the family silver”.
Richard Petty, a partner at DJ who specialises in social housing, said: “The Conservative party’s announcement looks like an ill-thought through attempt to win back support from some of the voters who have deserted the party in recent years, trying to repeat the electoral gains made when the Thatcher government originally introduced RTB. A policy of selling off the family silver when there is already far too little of it to go round looks like a short-sighted, short-term fix and not a realistic strategy to address the growing housing crisis.”
The Conservative’s policy, announced at the party conference in Bournemouth this week, would extend the right-to-buy (RTB) at a subsidised rate to every housing association tenant – around a million homes in total. The move is a direct contradiction of the government’s policy to suspend right-to-buy in areas of low housing supply in London and the south east.
Petty added: “The Conservatives have said that RTB sales receipts would be recycled into the development of new affordable homes. But the reality is that the cost of providing each additional unit of affordable housing is far higher than the price at which existing homes are sold under the RTB.”
He said that the sales receipts could not be recycled pound for pound as the Conservatives propose as housing associations are required to repay the private money they borrow to build the houses in the first place. “The numbers simply would not add up,” he predicted.
Petty suggested that sensible policies could include foregoing stamp duty on the purchase of a different property by a housing association tenant who releases his tenancy or the offering of a fixed grant to allow those who can afford to buy to get onto the home ownership ladder.
EGi News 11/10/02
