Empower Local Authorities to End Right to Buy

Affordable housing — Helps

moderate · moderate confidence

Letting councils choose to stop the Right to Buy would slow the loss of social homes, protecting the most affordable housing for people on low incomes. The catch is that councils must also build more — stopping sales alone doesn't add new homes.

The evidence

• The policy gives local authorities, including National Park Authorities, the power to end Right to Buy in their areas. — libdems.org.uk (manifesto) — “Giving local authorities, including National Park Authorities, the powers to end Right to Buy in their areas.”
• Since 1980, over 2 million social homes have been sold through Right to Buy in England alone. — resolutionfoundation.org (institutional) — “Since its introduction in 1980, over 2 million social homes have been sold through RTB in England alone”
• Nearly one million more social homes have been sold than replaced since the scheme began. — resolutionfoundation.org (institutional) — “Nearly one million more social homes have been sold than replaced since the scheme began”
• In the last decade there has been a net loss of 260,000 social rent homes, primarily due to Right to Buy. — england.shelter.org.uk (media) — “In the last decade, there has been a net loss of 260,000 social rent homes, primarily due to RTB”
• Around 40% of properties sold under Right to Buy are now rented out in the private sector, often at higher rents. — gov.uk (media) — “Around 40% of properties sold under RTB are now rented out in the private sector, often at higher rents”
• There are currently almost 1.3 million households on social housing waiting lists and over 117,000 homeless households in temporary accommodation. — england.shelter.org.uk (media) — “There are currently almost 1.3 million households on social housing waiting lists and over 117,000 homeless households in temporary accommodation”
• Suspending Right to Buy could save around 10,100 council-owned social homes each year. — england.shelter.org.uk (media) — “Shelter estimates that suspending RTB could save 10,100 council-owned social homes each year”
• The Resolution Foundation argues that Right to Buy has worsened Britain's affordable housing shortage and too often boosted private landlord portfolios rather than low-income homeownership. — resolutionfoundation.org (institutional) — “RTB has "worsened Britain's affordable housing shortage" and, rather than boosting homeownership for low-income families, "too often it has instead boosted the portfolios of private landlords"”
• The IFS notes welfare costs from misallocating would-be social tenants into inappropriate private dwellings as social stock dwindled. — ifs.org.uk (institutional) — “welfare costs associated with misallocating would-be tenants of social housing into inappropriate private dwellings”
• Councils struggle to replace lost homes because money from sales often doesn't cover the full cost of building new ones. — england.shelter.org.uk (media) — “councils struggle even to replace lost homes because the money from sales often doesn't cover the full cost of building new ones”
• Knowing homes could be sold off at significant discount has disincentivised councils from building new social housing. — gov.uk (media) — “Councils have been disincentivized from building new social housing, knowing that these properties could be sold off at a significant discount, sometimes as soon as three years after construction”

Biggest unknown: Whether councils will use the power widely, and whether they have the finance and capacity to replace lost stock even once sales stop.

Our reading: The evidence is strongly directional. Right to Buy has caused a net loss of nearly one million social homes over its lifetime, with 260,000 lost in the last decade alone. Around 40% of sold homes now sit in the private rented sector at higher rents — the opposite of what social housing is for. Waiting lists of 1.3 million and 117,000 homeless households in temporary accommodation illustrate the scale of unmet need. Empowering councils to end Right to Buy in their areas would, at minimum, stop the haemorrhage: Shelter estimates 10,100 homes saved per year. The IFS and Resolution Foundation both find the scheme has worsened affordable supply, and the disincentive-to-build effect (councils avoiding construction knowing homes could be sold off cheaply within three years) means ending it could also unlock new council housebuilding. The policy is framed as a local power rather than a national abolition, which is a meaningful caveat: uptake will vary, and areas with the worst housing need may be the slowest to act if political will is mixed. Ending sales does not itself add a single home — it only preserves existing stock. The long-term improvement to social housing supply and affordability for lower-income households is nonetheless the direction the evidence supports, at moderate magnitude, because the stock-preservation effect is real and the disincentive-to-build removal could compound gains over time. Confidence is moderate rather than high because the local-option framing introduces genuine uncertainty about coverage and pace.