'Right to buy' could be suspended in Wales

[Filuwaúrdjan]

<sub>The Welsh Assembly Government could suspend the right to buy council homes as part of its bid to tackle the shortfall of affordable housing.

It intends to apply for powers from the UK government to suspend tenants' "right to buy" in some areas, such as in rural Wales.

The stock of council homes in Wales has fallen by nearly half since the scheme was introduced in the 1980s.

More than 80,000 people are on waiting lists for social housing in Wales.

The aim is to ensure that people on modest incomes can still find houses to rent in the areas where they live.

Currently, tenants have the right to buy their houses at discounts of up to £16,000.</sub>

Fully story here

[afleitch]

The SNP have announced the same thing. Alongside more new build social housing (though everyone promises that) I'm not ideologically opposed to ending 'Right to Buy'; it was the right policy for its time. What I want are cheaper homes to both rent and buy. I also want control of housing stock to be transferred completely from local authority control to local housing associations. It was passed (by a public vote) in Glasgow which has went from 80% of all houses under local authority stock in 1980 (with less private ownership than Moscow) to 0% today.

It has allowed for a decentralised house renovation and rebuilding scheme with the almost weekly demolition of stagnant high rise homes and the creation of new low density areas of mixed social/private housing. It has also promoted the 'contraction' of the city away from high density windswept blocs on the outskirts, to the centre of the town. Removing control over housing stock from self serving local Labour politician has been the godsend for the tenants.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I support scrapping right-to-buy, but really only as a first step on the housing front (which isn't dominated by social housing to the degree it is elsewhere; the worst houses in Wales tend to be privately rented or privately owned and doing something about that could be tricky).

Oddly enough I'm not too bothered whether the social housing is owned by the council or by a housing association; on one level all that matters is that isn't in the private rented sector. I do have some concerns about housing associations, but then local authorities have f***ed up pretty badly on that front as well (not to the same level as Scotland o/c, but that's not hard). On that subject, the tenants in Conwy CBC have recently voted (quite narrowly IIRC) for a transfer.