“Right to buy” is political messaging at its most ingenious, instantly forcing opponents on to the defensive. Any policy that can be summed up in three words already scores top marks for communication; and forcing critics to challenge something called a “right” immediately casts them as opponents of individual freedom. “Oh, you oppose people’s rights, do you?” As well-paid salaried people, MPs tend to be homeowners; so politicians who speak out about it can be portrayed as opposing for less well-off people what they have for themselves.

Ex-council flat in central London sold for record £1.2m Read more

But we have had more than three decades of the policy, and the results are in. According to an Inside Housing study, almost four in 10 ex-council houses sold off under right to buy are now being privately rented out by landlords. What was once a social rent the non-privileged could afford is now out of their reach: the rents are up to seven times higher than the average social rent. Many of these properties are either inhabited by middle-class professionals, or by families struggling to afford rents. The ex-council flat that has made headlines this week after being sold for £1.2m is an extreme example, but indicative of a wider trend: that housing has become increasingly unaffordable.

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The whole selling point of “right to buy” was to promote home ownership. But home ownership in Britain has collapsed to its lowest point in nearly three decades. There are now 11 million private renters, a number that has jumped dramatically: many are people who would be in a council house in a previous era, but are now expected to pay far more. Indeed, the number of young private renters has doubled in just a decade. Right to buy is a contributory factor in surging property prices, pricing out young people: home ownership in the younger generation has plummeted over the past decade. And the often unaffordable private rents mean an exploding housing benefit bill, with up to £24bn splashed out a year. One in four London households now claims housing benefit; many of them are low-paid workers who cannot afford the rents. Meanwhile, the failure to replace the stock that has been sold off has led to social-housing waiting lists of up to 5m.

So while right to buy has proved a resounding success for private landlords, for young people and those who need social housing, it has been a definitive disaster. With the extension of right to buy to housing associations, the situation is only going to deteriorate. At the very least, social housing that is sold off should be replaced, but in 13 London boroughs, while 2,877 properties have been sold off, not one socially rented house has been built. Rip-off private rents, scarce social housing, increasingly out-of-reach home ownership: here is the true legacy of right to buy.