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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to extending the timeframe in which local authorities must spend retained Right to Buy receipts from three years to five years.

We have listened to concerns raised by local authorities about the effects of Covid 19 on their house building programmes and the difficulties of spending Right to Buy receipts to the three year deadlines. On 12 June, we agreed to a temporary extension of the next expenditure deadline of 30 June by six months, and wrote to local authorities to inform them of this change. More broadly, the Government has consulted on ways we can change the Right to Buy receipts system to help councils build more homes. The proposals included extending the period for local authorities to spend their receipts from three to five years, and the Government’s response to this consultation will be published in due course.