Salford council will need to pay a staggering £18 million a year to the government to fund the extension of Right to Buy, new research by Shelter reveals today.
The policy, now being put through parliament as part of the government’s Housing and Planning Bill, would force local authorities to sell off a proportion of their council houses on the open market once they become vacant.
The money would then be used to fund discounts of up to £100,000 for housing association tenants taking up the Right to Buy.
Shelter estimate that Salford City Council have 167 homes to sell off each year.
It warns that this policy risks further shrinking the supply of genuinely affordable homes.
Campbell Robb, Shelter’s Chief Executive, said: “With millions of families struggling to find a home they can afford, forcing councils to sell-off huge swathes of the few genuinely affordable homes they have left is reckless.
“Whilst the small number of lucky winners from this policy will understandably be grateful for the chance to buy their Housing Association property. Ultimately, far more people will lose out and be left with no choice but expensive, unstable private renting.
“The government is out of touch on this issue, and running out of time to help the millions of ordinary people in the North West crying out for a home that they can actually afford.”
Shelter’s analysis estimated the value of council homes in each area that are likely to become vacant and compared this to the £4.5 billion per year needed by the government to fund the extension of Right to Buy.
Manchester tops the list, with the council needing to raise almost £59m per year from the sale of its council houses, followed by Wigan (£42m) and Stockport (£26m). Salford sits fourth with estimated costs of 18,260,211.
