SalfordOnline
Your local community website
   Shapps unveils £50,000 discounts for council tenants to buy their homes
by Ross Macmillan
The housing minister Grant Shapps plans to increase discounts for council tenants to buy their homes to £50,000, while pledging to replace every sold home with a new affordable one. Mr Shapps said the restrictions on discounts over the past few years have made Right to Buy (RTB) meaningless in many parts of the country, with fewer than 3,700 sales last year compared to a peak of 84,000 less than 10 years ago. Plans published in a consultation today increase the discount cap to £50,000, effectively trebling it in some parts of the country. This will mean, for example, that someone in the West Midlands who had been a tenant for eight years on an household income of £20,000 could buy their £90,000 flat with a discount of £50,000 compared to £26,000 previously - effectively doubling their discount. In London, a tenant for five years buying a flat worth £160,000 would also receive a discount of £50,000 - more than three times the previous cap of £16,000. Housing association tenants with a Preserved Right to Buy - because their home was part of a housing stock transfer from a local authority - will also benefit from the enhanced offer. Mr Shapps said: "When this Government came to power our inheritance was a paralysed housing market and a devastating collapse in construction. The builders had stopped building, and millions of hard-working, aspiring home owners were blocked from taking their first step on the property ladder. "This is especially true for people living in social housing. The previous miserly restrictions on discounts meant Right to Buy became, for many tenants, nothing more than an empty promise - a social mobility scheme run by Ebenezer Scrooge. "That's why I am today publishing proposals that will dramatically increase the discounts under Right to Buy, ensuring it once again becomes a meaningful tool to support social tenants who want to buy the home they live in. "But we are also determined to maintain the number of affordable homes for rent - so for the first time, every additional home that is sold will be replaced by a new affordable home on a one-for-one basis. The new homes for affordable rent will help get the nation building again, and help councils meet housing need." The consultation considers the different ways the receipts from additional Right to Buy sales could be used to deliver new affordable rent homes on a one-to one basis. This will include options where councils keep the receipts and deliver the homes, and options where the Government collects the receipts and allocates funds to councils who offer the best value for money. Source: 24dash Photo: Grant Shapps MP Minister for Housing Due to problems with spam only SalfordOnline members can now leave comments. Becoming a member of SalfordOnline only takes a minute, just hit the red Join Us button at the top right hand side of the page to create your Personal account. Got a news story? Need help with publicity for an event in Salford? Send it to newsdesk@salfordonline.com or call the SalfordOnline newsdesk on 0161 789 5377. |
|
