Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department records the (a) nationality and (b) immigration status of tenants who purchase their homes under the Right to Buy scheme; and how many Right to Buy sales have been made by non-British nationals in each of the last five years.

My Department does not record the nationality or immigration status of tenants who have purchased their homes under the Right to Buy scheme, nor how many Right to Buy sales have been made to non-British nationals.

Eligibility for social housing is already tightly controlled. If a person’s visa means that they cannot access state benefits or local authority housing assistance, they are not eligible for an allocation of social housing. Migrants arriving in the UK on student or work visas are not eligible and nor are those who arrive in the country illegally with no leave to remain.

On 2 July, the government announced further reforms to the Right to Buy, including increasing the length of time someone needs to have been a public sector tenant to qualify for Right to Buy from 3 to 10 years. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on that day (HCWS771).