Council bought back home at four times original cost

A London council purchased a home originally sold under Margaret Thatcher's controversial Right to Buy scheme at almost four times its original cost, an investigation has found.

- HOLLY BANCROFT

Data obtained through freedom of information laws by The Big Issue shows that in some cases former council tenants are making more than £200,000 on a home due to increased property values.

In one case, Hackney Council sold a property for £95,050 in 2014, only to buy it back for £365,000 in 2021, the report found.

Data from 53 councils in England showed that they sold 20,836 homes under the Right to Buy scheme in the past five years, earning £2.25bn. However the same councils bought 8,590 properties in that time, at a cost of £2.12bn. Analysis by The Big Issue suggests that more than half of these, 4,414, had previously been sold under Right to Buy.

Despite spending over £2bn on house purchases, the local authorities ended up with 12,246 fewer homes, the investigation found.

Under Right to Buy, council tenants can buy their home at a discount if they have lived there for at least three years. The scheme, which was introduced by Thatcher, has been blamed by housing charities and experts for fuelling the housing crisis and contributing to the dwindling stock of affordable homes.

The chair of parliament’s housing select committee, Florence Eshalomi MP, said the findings were “really worrying, especially when you look at the fact that across England, a number of councils are struggling in terms of day-to-day finances”.