Decision details

To seek approval to use the Council’s proportion of capital receipts arising from the sale of Council houses to provide replacement homes to help meet the growing need for affordable housing in the borough.

The Right to Buy scheme was introduced in 1980 and is designed to help social tenants in England buy their home at a discount. The scheme is open to people who are secure tenants of a local council and who have spent at least 5 years as a public sector tenant.

Since April 2012, major changes have been made to Right to Buy. Maximum discounts were increased from as little as £16,000 in some areas to a maximum of £75,000 across England. As a result the number of Council houses sold under the Right to Buy scheme has risen.

As part of the 2012 changes, the Council entered into an agreement with the Government which allows the Council to retain a proportion of the capital receipt to build new affordable homes or purchase existing homes. A condition of the agreement requires the Council to make use of the capital receipt within two years of its collection or pay the receipt in full (plus interest) to HM Treasury.

This report outlines a proposal for spending the proportion of the capital receipt that the Council has collected (under the terms of the agreement) for the purchase of replacement homes.

RESOLVED that the Director of Community, in consultation with the Director of Finance and Resources, be authorised to spend and continue to spend the Right to Buy receipts collected since April 2012 on the purchase of replacement homes to be let at affordable rents, subject to the cost being affordable and sustainable to the Housing Revenue Account.