South Lanarkshire Council welcome end to council house sales

Jan 21 2010 by kbarrSUN, Hamilton Advertiser

COUNCIL chiefs welcomed proposals that will stop new council house tenants from having the right to buy their homes.

The SNP Government last week announced the plan in their latest housing bill.

Ministers claim the proposed legislation, which also affects housing associations, will lead to a big increase in affordable housing for rent in Scotland.

The new rules are aimed to cut the number of homes councils lose under “Right To Buy” legislation by 18,000 over the next decade.

The proposals apply only to new council tenants or to new homes.

However, even if the bill is approved, it will at first cover only a small number of houses in South Lanarkshire.

At the moment, the council have plans to provide 61 new houses for rent in East Kilbride, and 20 at Fernhill.

Right to Buy was a flagship policy of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s government, after being introduced in 1980.

She believed that residents of council housing should be given the opportunity to buy their home.

The policy proved popular but has over the years depleted stocks of public housing, leading to an acute shortage of affordable accommodation in some areas.

In South Lanarkshire, there are currently 25,616 lettable council properties, and since the start of the millennium 8652 council homes have been sold under the right to buy. There are at present, 18,942 people on the South Lanarkshire housing waiting list.

In response to the plans unveiled by Housing Minister Alex Neil last week, a South Lanarkshire Council spokesman said: “We welcome the proposals, which will mean that houses that would otherwise have been sold will remain available for those on the waiting list.

“In particular, the proposals mean that new housing built or acquired by the council cannot be sold.

However, the spokesman added: “Unfortunately, in real terms it will not make a significant impact upon the shortage of housing that exists in parts of South Lanarkshire and elsewhere across Scotland.”

The SNP Government’s move is part of a scheme to boost the affordable social housing stock, which has lost around 500,000 homes in Scotland to the private sector since its introduction.

The housing minister believes ending the right to buy will ensure a cash investment being made in social housing will deliver more homes for those in most need. Alex Neil said: “The modernisation of regulation will put the interests of tenants and homeless people at the heart of housing regulation and encourage landlords to improve the services that they provide for their customers. We are investing a record £1.5 billion in affordable housing, including a new generation of council homes.

“These far-reaching reforms will safeguard that investment for future generations.”

Council Leader Eddie McAvoy also welcomed the proposal to end the right to buy. He said: “At the moment, there is a shortage of houses but what is the point of us borrowing money to build houses that are sold off within a few years?”