Angela Rayner slashes right-to-buy discounts in ‘attack on aspiration'
As a result of the move, which will impose stringent restrictions on the right-to-buy scheme, the Deputy Prime Minister was accused of an 'attack on aspiration'.
Under the new scheme, the discount will be cut to between five and 15 per cent, depending on how long the tenant has lived there, down from 35 per cent at present.
Ms Rayner also announced that tenants must have lived in a council house for 10 years – up from the current three – to be able to qualify.
People who have previously benefitted from the scheme will be barred from trying again, and newly built council houses will be exempt from the right to buy for 35 years.
Kevin Hollinrake, shadow housing secretary, called Ms Rayner a 'hypocrite' as she had benefitted from right to buy herself.
In 2007, Ms Rayner bought her former council house in Stockport, Greater Manchester, for £79,000 after claiming a 25 per cent discount. She later sold the property for £48,500 more than she paid for it.
'Today, Labour has chosen to quietly bury bad news, slipping out a policy that slashes right-to-buy eligibility and discounts,' Mr Hollinrake said.
'This is nothing short of an attack on aspiration. Labour is turning its back on the very families who work hard and want a stake in their future.'
He added: 'For decades, right to buy has helped millions take their first step onto the housing ladder. Now, this Government is making it harder than ever to own a home. It is increasingly clear that the only guaranteed route to housing in this country is to arrive on a small boat.
'And the hypocrisy is staggering, Angela Rayner has personally benefitted from right to buy. Yet under her party's watch, that opportunity is being stripped away from others. Labour's message to aspiring homeowners is clear.'
Right to Buy was the totemic policy of Margaret Thatcher in 1979, helping to propel her to her first general election victory.
Sir Keir Starmer promised wholesale reform to restrict access, saying it had too dramatically refused the number of social houses available to people who needed them.
Ms Rayner's Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government department announced the changes on Wednesday night, saying it would bring forward legislation to increase the eligibility requirement from three to 10 years.
The department said this would allow councils to rebuild their stock and to better ensure that only tenants who have paid rent on their homes for many years are able to benefit from the scheme.
The changes will prevent existing property owners, or those who have previously benefitted from the scheme, from exercising the right to buy unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as being the victim of domestic abuse.
Newly built social and affordable housing will be exempt from the right to buy for 35 years, making it more financially viable for the council to build new homes.
This is much higher than the 10 or 20 years envisioned in a recent consultation document.
Labour promised at the last election to build 1.5 million more homes over the course of the Parliament. It says many of these will be social and affordable homes.
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