New Right to Buy discounts proposed

Discounts offered to council tenants to buy their own homes will be increased to a maximum of £50,000 across England under plans to revitalise the Right to Buy scheme, the Government has said.

The proposals would mean discounts are effectively trebled in some parts of the country and form part of a bid to ease the process for some of the two million social tenants in England to buy the property they are living in.

The scheme was widely associated with the Margaret Thatcher administration of the 1980s and the Government hopes that the revamp, unveiled in the Chancellor's Autumn Statement, will increase social mobility 30 years on. Ministers have promised that any home bought under the scheme will be replaced by a new affordable home for rent.

Housing minister Grant Shapps said: "The previous miserly restrictions on discounts meant Right to Buy became, for many tenants, nothing more than an empty promise - a social mobility scheme run by Ebenezer Scrooge. That's why I am publishing proposals that will dramatically increase the discounts under Right to Buy, ensuring it once again becomes a meaningful tool to support social tenants who want to buy the home they live in.

"But we are also determined to maintain the number of affordable homes for rent - so, for the first time, every additional home that is sold will be replaced by a new affordable home on a one-for-one basis. The new homes for affordable rent will help get the nation building again, and help councils meet housing need."

Mr Shapps said the restrictions on discounts over the past few years had made Right to Buy meaningless in some areas, with fewer than 3,700 sales last year compared with a peak of 84,000 less than 10 years ago.

The Government said the Right to Buy plans would "untie the hands of councils so they can manage their social housing more effectively". The maximum discount currently ranges from £16,000 in most of London to £38,000 in the South East.

Mr Shapps also outlined details of a £420 million fund to unlock stalled sites and "get Britain building" again in 2012. The Get Britain Building Fund aims to get builders back on housing sites with planning permission that have been shut down because of difficulties in accessing development finance.

Over the next two years, the fund could unlock up to 16,000 homes on sites that have stalled, and help create up to 30,000 jobs in construction and related industries, according to the Government. Developers can apply for a share of the funding, as a loan at commercial rates or as an equity investment - where the Government invests alongside the developer.

Shadow housing minister Jack Dromey said: "With millions in need of a decent home at a price they can afford, the country is gripped by a growing housing crisis. The Government's housing policies are failing and George Osborne's mismanagement of the economy is making things worse, holding back house-building."