Policy promoting sale of council houses will be scrapped if Labour retains power in the Welsh assembly next year

The right-to-buy scheme that has allowed social housing tenants to buy their homes could be scrapped in Wales under plans announced by the Labour-led government.

Legislation may be introduced in Wales to abolish the scheme, a central policy of Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1980, if Labour retains power after next year’s assembly elections.

The government has given permission for the scheme to be immediately suspended in Carmarthenshire, south-west Wales, where there is a particularly acute housing shortage, but said on Thursday it wanted to introduce the policy across Wales to make sure social housing is available for the most vulnerable.

Tories attacked the announcement as an “anti-aspiration, nanny-state-knows-best decision” demonstrating that Welsh Labour was returning to “its out-dated socialist dogma of the 1980s”.

But Lesley Griffiths, the Welsh communities and tackling poverty minister, said the plans would help families who depend on social housing for safe, secure and affordable homes. “Our supply of homes is under considerable pressure and we are still seeing social rented properties being taken out of our social housing stock because of the right to buy, which is forcing many vulnerable people to wait longer for a home. This is why decisive action is needed to protect our social housing to make sure it is available for those who need it most.”

Dyfed Edwards, the Welsh Local Government Association spokesperson for housing and a Plaid Cymru councillor in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, said: “With many thousands of people currently on housing waiting lists, and at a time of acute shortages of affordable homes, the proposal from Welsh government to abolish right to buy is a welcome step in tackling a growing problem in Wales.”

Mark Isherwood, the Welsh Conservative shadow minister for housing, was unimpressed. “This is an anti-aspiration, nanny-state-knows-best decision, which limits housing supply and denies people in council properties the choice and power to buy their council house.

“The right to buy has helped thousands of families in Wales on to the housing ladder, giving them a home to call their own and a valuable asset in retirement.

“Welsh Labour is returning to its outdated socialist dogma of the 1980s, which kept it out of power for a generation, believing that government rather than individuals know what is best for them and their families.

“Everyone, whether tenants or purchaser, should be able to access housing and it is regrettable that Labour is kicking down the housing ladder for thousands of hardworking families who aspire to buy a home and limiting housing supply for those stuck on waiting lists.”

The plans feature in a white paper. The government says between 1981 and 2014, 138,423 council homes were sold – a 45% reduction in the social housing stock.