HC 370 - Housing Associations and the Right to Buy

Download or read book HC 370 - Housing Associations and the Right to Buy written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Communities and Local Government Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2016 with total page 61 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the 2015 General Election, the Government announced that it was seeking to extend the Right to Buy to tenants of housing associations. This policy, alongside others such as the 1 per cent reduction in social rents and a 'pay to stay' model which would charge differential rents according to tenant income, was likely to have a significant impact on housing associations. We therefore wanted to explore how their work and the services they provide might change, and what the impact might be for the wider social housing sector and the provision of affordable homes. Shortly after our investigations began, a deal to implement the extended Right to Buy on a voluntary basis was reached between the National Housing Federation and the Government. We recognise that the voluntary deal is a way of delivering a key policy from the Government's Manifesto whilst maintaining the independence of housing associations. However there remains much uncertainty in the wording of the agreement, for example regarding whether associations which voted against it are bound by its terms and the extent of the discretion to decline sales. The extended Right to Buy is designed to increase home ownership and increase housing supply. We support these aspirations and the principle of giving people the opportunity to buy their own home. Despite this, we feel that there are unresolved issues and remain concerned that the Government's policies could have a detrimental effect on the provision of accessible and affordable housing across all tenures, particularly affordable rented. We are also concerned that the extended Right to Buy could hinder the provision of specialist and supported housing schemes. Maintaining and protecting the provision of affordable housing in rural areas is also an issue that we believe needs to be addressed in order to protect our rural communities. The terms of the voluntary agreement allow for portable discounts to be offered in place of certain properties, but it remains unclear how this would operate.