Housing: Rented Homes

Lord Cormack Excerpts

Thursday 1st December 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, I must be perfectly honest that I cannot answer that correctly. I will write to the noble Lord on that aspect. However, as regards the proposal on the right to buy, it is suggested that the discount will go up to 50 per cent, which means that there will be more opportunity for people to take advantage of the right to buy. The other side of that is that, unlike in the past where a substantial proportion of a deposit had to come back to central government, it will be retained locally so that it can be used to provide further affordable housing.

[Lord Cormack]

My Lords, will my noble friend recognise that although the right-to-buy policy was rightly and widely welcomed, and many of us welcome what the Chancellor said in outline, nevertheless it took a lot of houses out of the affordable bracket? It was a particular mistake to allow those occupying old persons’ bungalows to buy their houses because it meant that their children bought them and then sold them on at a great profit, thereby depleting the stock of that sort of housing. Can we please not repeat that mistake?

[Baroness Hanham]

As I said in my previous answer, any money that comes from right to buy will be invested in new affordable housing. As for residential homes, they are slightly different to the mainstream right to buy, but I note what my noble friend says.