Calls to scrap right to buy scheme as Sheffield struggles to provide affordable housing

Councillors Penny Baker and Mohammed Mahroof tabled a motion to protect the city’s social housing stock at a full council meeting next week along with some demands.

They said the right to buy scheme – introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1980 to allow tenants to buy their council home at a discount – was detrimental to Sheffield, contributing to a shortfall of 902 affordable homes per year.

Nationally, more than 40 per cent of homes bought under right to buy are now let privately according to analysis for the 2022 Housing Review published by the Chartered Institute of Housing.

More than 22,000 households are on the waiting list for a council property in Sheffield, 639 of which are in the top two priority bands including those suffering from domestic abuse and homelessness.

Councillors Baker and Mahroof called on the council to work more closely with private developers to prioritise affordable housing as well as increase its housing stock.

The councillors also want the authority to write to the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities asking the government to grant local councils the power to set the right to buy discount locally including discontinue the scheme and make permanent the 100 per cent retention of right to buy receipts.

Sheffield Council’s plans for more affordable housing

Earlier this year, the council set a target to provide 3,100 new council homes over the next 10 years, going against the housing committee’s proposal to cut the figure to 2,310 because of soaring construction costs.

The authority said 32,000 council homes were sold by the council through right to buy since it was launched which decreased rent income and reduced the availability of council homes.

It said: “Our city, like many across the country, has a growing demand for affordable housing.

“We have embarked on an ambitious programme to deliver a programme of additional new council homes by 2029 – a combination of new builds and purchased properties. Our aim is to provide more choice of good quality and affordable homes for current residents and those who choose to live and work here in the future.”