David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 32951, what measures he plans to introduce to ensure that social housing stock sold under the Right to Buy scheme is replaced by like-for-like replacements that are built in the same local authority area.

Brandon Lewis

The voluntary agreement with the National Housing Federation states that housing associations will provide a new home for every home sold under the voluntary Right to Buy nationally, and we envisage that new build will occur in areas where there is a need. Housing Associations are best placed to understand what type of housing is best suited to their local communities; they know their customers’ needs and it is only right that decisions on tenure are taken locally.

The commitment under the reinvigorated council Right to Buy is to provide a new affordable home for every additional sale nationally. Councils are best placed to determine what property type is needed for the communities that they serve, and there is a rolling 3 year deadline to deliver additional affordable homes through new builds or acquisition. So far they have delivered well within profile. By December 2015, there had been 4,954 starts and acquisitions, delivering more than a one for one replacement on the 3,054 sales following the first year of reinvigoration.