Right to buy scheme discounts halve in ten years

Discounts available under the right to buy scheme have halved in the last decade, government figures have revealed.

Across England the average discount on a local authority owned home has fallen from 27 per cent in 1997/98 to 11 per cent in 2007/08, when looking at the right to buy discount as a percentage of overall house prices.

The drop is most marked in London, where the discount has fallen from 29 per cent in 1997/98 to just 6 per cent in 2007/08.

Looking at the discount as a percentage of prices for right-to-buy homes gives a similar picture, in terms of the level of decline. Using these figures the average discount has fallen from 49 per cent in 1997/98 to 24 per cent in 2007/08. In London the discount drops from 53 per cent to 13 per cent over the decade.

The figures were released in Parliament by junior housing minister Iain Wright, in response to a question from shadow housing minister Grant Shapps.

Mr Wright said the figures are based on the value of the property, not the amount paid after the discount, and only apply to local authority owned homes.

‘Around 80 per cent of RTB sales in 2007/08 were local authority properties, while 20 per cent are properties owned by registered social landlords,’ he said.

Earlier this year Inside Housing revealed that local authorities are facing a huge drop in receipts from right to buy sales in 2008/09. A snapshot survey of 10 councils found right to buy sales had fallen by 89 per cent in a year, with some authorities failing to sell any properties.