It's a disgrace, people are buying and now renting out rooms

Reports Deputy PM Angela Rayner is set to ditch the Right to Buy policy have been given a mixed reception but in Manchester many claim it's an essential decision

- JOSEPH TIMAN, GRETA SIMPSON, EMMA BUTTERWORTH

MADELEINE moved into her home on the Grey Mare Lane estate, around the time it was first built 53 years ago.

The 77-year-old retired carer, who bought her council home in the 1980s through the Right to Buy scheme, has lived there ever since.

"I've got lovely neighbours here around me," she says. "I scrub my front step and try and keep it nice I've got pride in my home.

"I wouldn't have been able to buy it without the [Right to Buy] scheme."

Reports recently emerged that Deputy Prime Minister and Greater Manchester MP Angela Rayner is preparing to 'rip up' the Right to Buy scheme. And Madeleine, despite benefitting from the scheme in the past, says she understands why saying a lot has changed since she first became a homeowner.

"People are buying the houses and now renting out rooms," she explains, referring to Airbnb listings for ex-council homes on the estate which she blames for the mess it has become.

"It's a disgrace," she says. "I understand why they are debating getting rid of the scheme. People are buying the former social housing and renting it out."

And Brenda, a 70-year-old woman who also lives on the Grey Mare Lane estate, has tried to buy her council home through Right to Buy before. But as the value of the property went up, the cost to buy her three-bedroom house rose by £18,000 even with the discount.

She expects that the Right to Buy scheme will soon be scrapped by the new government. "Because of the housing shortage," she says.

Reports that Rayner is preparing to ditch the policy has been met with a mixed reception nationally. But in Greater Manchester, politicians have been calling for reforms to the policy for many years.

'WE LOSE SOCIAL HOMES TO RIGHT TO BUY - AND THE HOUSING CRISIS GETS WORSE'