February 2018
Under the Right to Buy scheme, over 65,000 social housing tenant households have been helped to buy their local authority homes since April 2010. I think it only right that this scheme is extended to give thousands more housing association tenants the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of home ownership.
An agreement has been secured with housing associations and the National Housing Federation to extend the Right to Buy to their tenants. Following a number of smaller pilot schemes across the country, I welcomed the announcement of a £200 million large-scale regional pilot for housing association tenants in the Midlands. I look forward to the Midlands pilot beginning in the summer, with further details to be released in due course.
While the extension of Right to Buy to housing association tenants across England will be a gradual process, I am pleased that other schemes are already in place to help housing association tenants to purchase their homes at a discount.
The ‘preserved’ Right to Buy, is available to some housing association tenants who were resident in their home when it was transferred from local authority ownership to housing association ownership.
Likewise, the Right to Acquire, which offers a smaller discount, is already available to housing association tenants.
You can read more about these schemes, and sign-up to news about the extension of Right to Buy, at https://righttobuy.gov.uk/am-i-eligible/housing-association-tenants/.
