More tenants could be excluded from Right to Buy

More social housing tenants could be stopped from buying their own homes as part of a shake up of Right to Buy policy.

Under the proposals, tenants may have to wait more than ten years to buy their homes and those living in newly built social homes may never be able to buy.

The government also wants to slash the discounts available to social tenants back to pre-2012 levels and discourage them from selling the homes they have bought.

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said its changes will address the loss of social housing, but housing charity Shelter said they "must be combined with serious investment in social homes".

Since the Right to Buy policy was introduced in 1980, almost every year has seen a net loss in social housing stock as successive governments have failed to replace the housing that has been bought or demolished.

There are 1.4 million fewer English households in social housing than there were in 1980, according Shelter's analysis.

"Too many social homes have been sold off before they can be replaced, which has directly contributed to the worst housing crisis in living memory," said Rayner.

“We cannot fix the crisis without addressing this issue – it’s like trying to fill a bath when the plug’s not in."