Cameron’s f lagship right to buy scheme may be watered down

DAVID Cameron’s flagship Right to Buy scheme for housing association tenants is set to be drastically watered down.

It means hundreds of thousands of tenants could be blocked from buying their own home and instead offered an alternative property under new plans.

The number offered the discount could be capped each year to control costs.

Before the election, the Prime Minister pledged to give discounts of up to 70 per cent to all 1.3million families living in housing association properties.

He said it would give ‘a new generation the security of a home of their own’.

The bold pledge was an echo of Margaret Thatcher’s sale of council houses to millions of tenants in the 1980s.

Ministers were set to enshrine the manifesto commitment in law in the Housing Bill. But last night details emerged of a proposed deal between Communities Secretary Greg Clark and the housing associations which own the properties.

It would create a raft of exemptions where associations could refuse to sell people the home they are living in. The right to buy is instead described as a ‘presumption’ in documents detailing the plan.

Exemptions would apply to houses in rural areas, those adapted for special needs and homes built from proceeds of charitable donations. These tenants would be given the option of buying an alternative property with a discount voucher.

There were major concerns last night about how the policy would be funded. The deal will involve taxpayers covering the cost of the discount offered to tenants, and associations keeping the proceeds of the sale to build more homes.

Officials say the policy will be paid for from sales of the most expensive council homes when they become vacant – but this will take time, potentially leaving taxpayers with a huge bill while assets are sold.

The deal, proposed by the National Housing Federation, suggests ministers would ‘ put in place arrangements … to ensure that the cost of sales does not exceed the value of receipts received from the sale of high value council assets … for example, introducing an annual cap on the costs of Right to Buy discounts’.

NHF chief David Orr said the proposal ‘differs significantly’ from the Government’s initial plan. Mr Clark made the announcement at the NHF conference in Birmingham, but his department refused to release a full text of his speech. A spokesman said the Government will consider the proposal, adding: ‘We want to help anyone who … aspires to own their own home.’