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Council leader backs ‘right to buy’
SUPPORTIVE... council leader Iain Malcolm.
THE Labour leader of South Tyneside Council has backed calls to extend Tory prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s Right To Buy policy.
In 1980, Mrs Thatcher’s Conservative government gave council tenants the right to buy their homes.
The policy transformed the lives of some of the least affluent in society, helping two million Britons become homeowners for the first time.
Now a cross-party bid has been launched to extend the policy to allow housing association tenants to buy their own properties.
Leading backbenchers, Tory David Davis and Labour’s Frank Field are leading the campaign – launched to coincide with the release of the Margaret Thatcher biopic, The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep.
Coun Iain Malcolm, the leader of South Tyneside Council, is no supporter of the Thatcher era. But he still sees merits in extending her pioneering ‘right to buy’ policy.
He said: “Council house tenants have been able to purchase their homes, and I see no reason why those in housing association properties should not been able to do the same.
“However, the receipt from the sales must be reinvested into providing additional social and affordable housing.
“We need to appreciate, though, that the right to rent is just as important as the right to buy.
“Those who choose to rent must have access to good quality housing, and not be stigmatised for wishing to rent.
“South Tyneside Homes has spent over £140m already bringing our 18,000 properties up to the decent homes standard.
“The Government should also enable councils and housing associations to access funding to build more affordable homes to rent and part-buy – this is the only way we can reduce the waiting lists.” The Home Group has 1,288 housing association properties in South Tyneside – all of whose tenants could benefit from a policy change.
And Mark Henderson, the Home Group’s chief executive, believes the Government could inject more than £68bn into the UK economy by extending right to buy opportunities to housing authority tenants. He said: “When the Government published its housing strategy, improved right-to-buy opportunities for council tenants were at its heart.
“Home Group highlighted then that a far more seismic economic impact would be felt if the same opportunity was extended to housing association tenants, providing we can replace a new property for each one sold.”
“Updating the right to buy rules for housing association tenants not only offers individuals the same chance to become a homeowner as residents in council homes, it will give a phenomenal boost to the UK economy.”
Based on historic data of local authority right to buy sales over the past 10 years, one in five of these would potentially look to buy their own home.
Backbencher Frank Field said: “In 1980, Margaret Thatcher’s government gave council tenants the right to buy their homes. It was a policy for the many, not the few. However, the current rules mean many housing association tenants who are willing and able to buy their home are not allowed to do so.
“A million housing association tenants do not have the right to buy, while the last government’s restriction of right to buy discounts also made it more difficult for council tenants to buy their home this way.
“Preventing social tenants from owning their home ties up billions of pounds of public funds that could be better used to help people onto the housing ladder. Reinvigorating and extending the right to buy would not only increase home ownership: by using all the funds raised to build new homes, the policy would lift the most vulnerable households in Britain off waiting lists, out of temporary accommodation and into a place they can call home.”
paul.kelly@northeast-press.co.uk
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Comments
There are 17 comments to this article
Page 1 of 2
tynesider
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 12:05 AMRight to buy what ? Out of touch Mr Malcolm , not many have the right to buy a tin of beans nowdays. my guess greed and corruption are rife within the council at south tyneside , but will the gazette shine the spotlight on the real scroungers of society ? tune in next week at the town hall .expenses claims to be in by the 31st please iain.
Scunnered
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at 09:54 AMOf course he supports the right to buy, only labour councillors can AFFORD to buy THEIR council houses
geordie999
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 10:42 PMto true bohemianblogger , when it comes to money it opens all doors and speaks all political languages . Animal farm , .we are all equal ,but some are more equal than others . just how many councillors speaking up for council tenants rights pay rent to council ?
wasthatthatguy
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 07:57 PMMaybe some people at the Council get "commission" from the building companies "awarded" the contracts to build new council houses?!
The Menace
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 07:09 PMBoldonLad......sorry mate, I should have known better from you. The Oncoming Storm, no council houses left? there was an article in this rag no less than a month ago saying the council have excess of 300 empty houses! As has been mentioned by several people here the Labour had plenty time to revoke all of the policies the Great Lady introduced but never. This is because they agree with them. Labour councilors in for this area bought their council houses at the knock down prices and they also bought shares in companies such as BT, Northern Electric and British gas. As I have already said Hypocrisy at it's best!
bohemianblogger
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 05:35 PM@Geordie 999 I swear they have a portrait of Maggie pride of place over the firplace in the longe at the wtown hall where the labour coucillors toast her and giggle at the fools that believe they work for the working classes. Labour had 13 years to stop RTB and build new housing, instead they squandered the money on goodies to be shared amongst themselves. Another analogy to Animal farm can be gained from this. Social housing was meant for the working class of Britain who simply could not afford to buy. This is before the 'dole culture' and was never intended to let capitalists buy housing cheap, then sell on for profits and not be replaced.
The Oncoming Storm
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 04:34 PMThe repurcussions that are still being felt are apparent in the lack of affordable social housing currently available. People these days can be on the housing waiting list for literally years and not get one offer of a place. It was also a backdoor way of preventing the average working man from striking: by 'owning' his home he has to continue working to pay his mortgage...the bank (the real homeowner here) wouldn't be as lenient with rent arrears as a local authority. No, miss a mortgage payment and you're out on the street, and there's no safety net of a council house BECAUSE THEY'VE ALL BEEN SOLD! Additionally how many of us can remember when the first person in your street 'bought' their home and got so swell-headed they believed they also owned the road and pavements as well. Kids playing in the street? Not outside MY house!!!! It reminds me now of Orwell's 'Animal Farm'. All people are equal, but some people who bought their council homes are more equal than others'.
geordie999
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 10:53 AMI wonder how many of those rented properties were later sold on to maybe businessmen to rent out ? few round here at the £100 + range .., to those who could not afford to buy , or maybe even find work ??......council houses should have stayed council , ..affordable rents for those in an unemployment blackspot . Sure some have profited but rents have been pushed up through greed.
BoldonLad
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 09:24 AMOh dear! I was making a joke. There is a tendancy to bash Thatcher. My point was to make people think (a dangerous idea to be sure), and perhaps ask themselves, "if her policies were so bad, what has not one of the successive (4, 2 from each party) prime ministers reversed those policies? So why did Blair or Brown not renationalise BT, British Coal, etc etc, why did they not (as I said) take back the council houses, sold at discount prices? etc etc. Personally, I rather like being able to get my telephone service for a fraction of the price BT charged when a nationalised organisation. I also rather the like the idea of wealth transfer to the poorer sections of society via Council house sales (even although I personally have not benifited). Dare I say it, I even rather liked Thatcher, at least she had balls, more than can be said for the succeeding 4 prime ministers. So, sorry, it was but a jest.
absent geordie
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 05:37 AMInstead of bashing thatcher how about bashing this grossly incompetent and corrupt council. People who have exercised their right to buy generally keep them in good condition and make repairs as necessary. Look at the number of properties on this councils books which are in an extremely sad state of disrepair. You would be prosecuted for cruelty if you tried to keep animals in some of this councils properties. In this context RTB has been a good thing.
The Menace
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 09:45 PMSo Boldonlad, let me get this right, by what you have said given a chance you would rather pay rent all of your adult life rather than pay a mortagage which at the time when the RTB was introduced people receive massive discounts, would have been cheaper than the rent and would only last for 25 years at the most. Or put it another way, would you refuse a free house?
geordie999
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 09:23 PMLabour council ...with a true blue flag . when will Maggies picture by put up to be idolised by all at our council ?
marco1234
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 08:53 PMBoldon lad,in what way is that very destructive?
BoldonLad
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 08:37 PMIn my experience the policy has been very destructive. Several of my acquaintences have inherited (ex-council) properties, which their parents bought under the right to buy scheme. The children have thus become part of the multi property owning elite. These acquaintences have transformed from Socialists to avid Capitalists. The transformation has been alarmingly quick, just a matter of weeks in most cases.
The Menace
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 08:12 PMHypocrisy at it's best, lets extend the RTB, that which Labour have done the upmost to stop all bar saying you cannot buy your council house. I wonder how many shares he has? Not a good advert for Labour really. I also wonder how this could be one of the most destructive policies to come out of that era and what repercussions ar estill being felt?
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