Nearly 40% of all council flats sold under the Right to Buy in England are now being are rented out privately, according to research by Inside Housing magazine.
It asked councils to release the information under the Freedom of Information Act, with figures from 91 councils showing that 37.6% of ex-council flats had leaseholders that lived at another address – a strong indication that they were being rented privately.
The research comes as the government prepares offer Right to Buy discounts to housing association tenants.
Meanwhile, it’s also been revealed that a government fund targeting 10,000 Build to Rent homes getting “underway” by this year is in fact on track to deliver only around 4,000 homes.
A DCLG spokeman told Construction News: “To date, 15 schemes worth £456m are under contract, delivering over 4,000 new homes for market rent.”
The councils in the Inside Housing survey revealed that they had sold a total of 127,763 leasehold properties, with 47,994 leaseholders living at another address, suggesting they were being sublet.
The research showed that more than half the ex-council flats in six local authority areas are now being let privately with the highest – 70% – in Milton Keynes.
In Stevenage, Corby and Blackpool, more than 60% of the stock that was sold off is now being sublet.
Right to Buy was introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1980 and revamped by prime minister David Cameron. Since discounts were raised in 2012, it is thought that almost 30,000 homes have been sold under the scheme.
Many councils rent back their former properties sold through the Right to Buy at market rates to provide temporary accommodation to homeless families.
The National Housing Federation (NHF) told Inside Housing that the figures demonstrate why it is keen to “explore with government other ways housing associations can help more families get on the path towards buying their own home” apart from extending the Right to Buy.
Gary Porter, Conservative member and chair of the Local Government Association, said the research demonstrated why councils should be allowed to keep Right to Buy receipts to build replacement homes.
Inside Housing’s research follows similar smaller studies by the Daily Mirror in 2013, and a London-wide survey last year.
