One of the many disastrous consequences of the Tories winning the last General Election is the extension of the Right to Buy. Brent Council has a report tomorrow on how it intends to spend the proceeds of these sales. The government's stated aim is for one to one replacement, but I don't think anyone in the housing sector believes this likely.
Indeed, the policy undermines Council Housing in a fundamental fashion. By reducing the number of properties of BHP it cuts its income. Since the Council can only use 30% of the receipts for new build, it makes it very hard to provide housing directly, and realistically some sort of third partner is need to make up the slack. The result is likely to be a winding down of Council housing until it ceases to exist entirely.
I wonder what5 John Wheatley, the founder of British Council Housing would have thought. Indeed I wonder what the many Tory politicians involved in pushing Couyncil House building, such as Chamberlain, Macmillan and Sir Keith Joseph would have thought.
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