Meeting documents

Contact Officer: Henry Allmand (01296) 585320

The Environment and Living Scrutiny received a report outlining the implications of the proposal legislative changes that would extend the Right to Buy to those with the Right to Acquire.  It was noted that the Housing and Planning Bill proposed to extend the Right to Buy discount to all Housing Association tenants.  This extension would be achieved through a voluntary agreement between the government and Housing Associations.  It was anticipated that approximately 114 units in Aylesbury Vale would be sold in 2016/17 under Right to Buy and Right to Acquire combined, taking into consideration the extension of the Right to Buy discount.  The Government has identified a ‘one-for-one’ replacement as a key element of this initiative.  It was noted that it was not clear how the scheme would operate in areas such as Aylesbury Vale where a Large-Scale Voluntary Transfer of council housing stock had taken place.

The existing Right to Buy legislation applied to tenants of Council-owned housing stock, or residents of ex-Council stock who moved to a Housing Association as part of a large-scale stock transfer.  In Aylesbury Vale, this would only apply to tenants of the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust who were tenants at the time of the transfer.  Eligibility for the Right to Buy scheme gave tenants up to 70% discount on the Open Market Value of their property, capped at £77,900 outside of London.  Another form of discounted purchase was available to residents of social housing via the Right to Acquire, which was available to housing association tenants living in a property built or bought by a housing association after 31 March 1997.  It also applied for properties that were transferred from a local authority to a housing association after 31 March 1997.  A tenant purchasing under the Right to Acquire would receive a flat rate of between £9,000 and £16,000 depending on the region the property is located.

The voluntary agreement between the Government and the National Housing Federation (NHF) proposed to extend the Right to Buy discount to all housing association tenants.  In Aylesbury Vale, there were 11,613 tenants of Registered Providers/Housing Associations, and of these 9,497 lived in rented accommodation and would potentially have the Right to Buy/Right to Acquire.  It was expected that there 5.7% of Registered Provider tenants in Aylesbury Vale may express an interest in taking up their entitlement to the Right to Buy discount, but this ‘expression of interest’ would not necessarily translate to a sale.  The housing stock may fluctuate and could decrease.  It was likely that there may be initial high level of demand to buy the property, as those who can afford to buy the property may do so quickly.

Members raised concerns about the ability to replace lost housing stock locally.  It was noted that there were several large strategic developments which included some affordable housing, and that VAHT also had a development programme.  Current properties were located in urban areas.  Members were advised hat over half VAHT’s total housing stock had been lost to the Right to Buy scheme since its inception. 

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.