Queen’s Speech announces plans to extend Right to Buy discounts

The Right to Buy scheme is being extended to 1.3 million housing association tenants across England.

The scheme was previously only available to council house tenants.

The change was announced in the Queen’s Speech and will be part of a new Housing Bill that will enable housing association tenants to buy their homes at substantial discounts

Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said: “The vast majority of people want to own their own home. While substantial progress has already been made in helping people achieve this, with more than 200,000 households helped to buy a home since 2010 through government-backed schemes, further action must be taken.

“Receipts from selling an owner’s current property will help build replacement affordable homes on a one-for-one basis. This means the number of homes across all tenures will effectively double for each home sold, increasing national housing supply and creating a new affordable home for those in need from each sale.

“First-time buyers will be further helped by plans to deliver 200,000 Starter Homes, which will be available at a 20% discount to first-time buyers under 40.”

Discounts under the Right to Buy scheme currently stand at a maximum of £103,900 in London and £77,900 in the rest of the country.

The Housing Bill will also introduce a Right to Build scheme, which will give people the right to be allocated land with planning permission for them to build a home themselves or hire a builder to do it for them.

Please contact Gurjit Dhadar if you would like advice with the legal aspects of buying or selling a home.