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OTHER GUIDES & TIPS

Sell Up! Labour Mayor wants landlords to get rid of ex-council flats

London Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan wants private landlords letting ex-council properties to consider selling the properties to local councils. 

Since launching in July 2021, 14 borough councils across London have been allocated £152m by Khan to purchase 1,577 ex-council properties - many from private landlords - and these have been or will be converted into what Khan calls “affordable housing.” 

This includes a total of 908 homes to be let at social rent levels, the cheapest affordable, council rents. In addition, Khan has expanded this scheme to help Hounslow and Islington councils to buy 39 ex-council homes for Afghan families.

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Khan says, in a statement hailing the apparent success of the right to buy back scheme, that with more and more small landlords selling or planning to sell their properties due to changes in tax laws, it would be far better for these to be sold back to the council than to other private landlords. All homes purchased through the scheme must meet the government’s Decent Homes Standard. 

The original Tory-created Right to Buy, part of the 1980 Housing Act, gave council tenants who had lived in situ for more than three years the chance to buy their property substantially below market rate. Since the Act’s introduction more than 300,000 London council homes have been sold. 

The number of replacement council homes that were funded with Right to Buy receipts in London over the last decade - around 14,000 - is lower than the total number of homes sold through Right to Buy over the same period - around 23,000.

Khan says that while the number of Right to Buy sales has been declining in recent years, the policy continues to have a negative impact on the overall number of council homes in London.  

He comments: “For more than 40 years, London’s precious council homes have been disappearing into the private sector, often never to be replaced. As Mayor I have maintained a relentless focus on stemming the tide and replenishing London’s social housing stock.

“I am proud that, thanks to my interventions, we have brought council homebuilding back up to levels not seen since the 1970s and I’m hugely encouraged by the enthusiasm I see from boroughs across London for building new council homes and using my Right to Buy-back scheme to return homes to public ownership.

“These homes were built for the public good and it has been painful to watch them disappear into private portfolios. Returning these homes to public ownership is a key part of my plan to build a better London for everyone – a city that is greener, fairer and more prosperous for all.”

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  • Neil Moores

    I have no problem with the council buying any of our properties. I’m not based in London but if that were on offer where I am it seems a very practical solution rather than just blaming private landlords for buying all the properties and profiteering. The housing shortage is down to government failures, local and central, in providing properties for people to live in. Other options muted recently seem to revolve around rent control which doesn’t help at all, reducing supply and leaving a lucky few with lower rents and everyone else with nowhere to live.

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    No, I’ll sell my house to whoever I want. Not taking any direction from Sadiq.
    If you really that bothered about preserving council houses then stop right to buy or giving the discounts which is the publics money anyway

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    In a couple of years the houses bought back will be sold via right to buy again

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    Ok, have I missed something…. Originally the properties were sold with a huge discount, and a loss to the tax payer….. they are now going to be purchased back at market rates 🤔 as a tax payer I feel mugged 👮🏻‍♀️💰💰

  • George Dawes

    The guy who’s driven around in a chauffeur driven gas guzzler Range Rover then gets his bike out of the boot just in time for the cameras

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    I'd happily sell back to the Council if they will pay market price, but I seriously doubt that. Why should I lose thousands in profit to correct a bad policy?

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    They would screw you down to the floor boards, you'll never deal with a council, 15 yrs ago Norwich council and Broadland housing assoc wanted to do a joint deal on a commercial unit I was selling, talk about wasters ended up selling it to a guy who makes car spray booths

     
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    I own an ex-council flat which is rented out in London. The person I bought it from made a fortune as he'd bought from the council via Right to Buy. I'm renting it out to a family on LHA who were nominated by the council.
    In all this, the beneficiary is the ex-council tenant who purchased, the lower is the council. However, that same flat is housing a family, so is not 'lost'.
    I asked the council if they wanted to buy it back (we're currently selling up our portfolio). As they'd sold off the block to Clarion they weren't interested! So even the councils are selling up!!

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    This is exactly the same story. Council tenant does RTB with massive discount sells takes the money spends it or racks up loads of debt against the property loses it to repo then guess what they go back to the council to get rehoused or LHA

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    Agreed that's exactly what happened, upped the mortgage all the way, new BMW in the drive way, spent the free money and mortgage provider reprocessed the property, generally people live in social housing because they have limited financial sense

     
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