Extend Right To Buy to tenants of private landlords, Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn says – UK Politics – UK – The Independent
This is a neat response to the Conservative plan that would extend right-to-buy so it includes Housing Association properties, that are privately-owned.
Mr Corbyn is quite correct to say that, if HA properties can be sold off, privately-owned rented properties should also be available to buy.
The ‘Right To Buy’ policy that lets council tenants buy their homes at a big discount should be extended to the tenants of private landlords, a Labour leadership contender has said.
How will the Tories respond?
Follow me on Twitter: @MidWalesMike
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
If you have enjoyed this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
I support the idea….
Not sure my landlady will!
Dream on…..:)
Back in the 1980s, Tory MPs opposed any such amendments to the Right to Buy legislation that was going through Parliament at the time. At the time, it was said in a Guardian article, 100 or so Tory backbenchers were renting properties in London at a peppercorn rent from none other than the Duke of Westminster. The days of rotten boroughs were long gone, but a member of the peerage had more influence, through being their landlord, over more MPs than any of his forebears had ever had. Of course, to suggest that the Duke exercised undue influence over those members would be to slur his good name.
Should privately-owned rented properties be available to buy then major landowners like the Duke, the Prince of Wales and many of their immediate circle might well find themselves out of pocket. Cue another green ink letter from the Prince, in this case on the importance of preserving the estates of old families who have contributed so much to the nation?
Mind you ,she has a second mortgage on the property..
:(
Hum stil havent learned that selling of the stock would bring more heartache whot price youd bet more than the norm private landlords will want more
The real problem is the lack of affordable housing to rent and the exorbitant rents the landlords are making. High property prices are creating a bubble that the poor are left out of but the landlords and property owners – the same tory profiteers, banksters and politicians are the beneficiaries.
I don’t think this is really tackling the root causes of the problem.
Thats just a silly proposal and he knows that. If you put forward a plan to give tenants of private landlords the right to buy with same discounts then long before any legislation came into effect the landlords would just sell all the property off leaving even more people without accommodation. To get houses on an industrial scale you have to start thinking outside the box and throw away the outdated planning rules…Houses could be built in factories and assembled on site…..this type of construction was used in the 1970’s but it was discontinued because of silly planning rules…..Sell off or better still build social housing on ex MOD land,there are thousands of acres just laid empty across the country…Land which belongs to the ” PEOPLE”….You will never get on top of the housing crises just by talking about it….we need in government doers not chattering do gooders who achieve very little.
So let me get this right, private landlords will sell off property to people who will leave it unoccupied? And you think Corbyn is silly?
The fire sale you seem to be predicting would result in a glut of properties for sale on the housing market. A glut that would, ceteris paribus, drive down house prices and thus bring more properties within reach of those wishing to buy a home. Not a bad outcome on balance.
“Houses could be built in factories and assembled on site…..this type of construction was used in the 1970’s but it was discontinued because of silly planning rules”. Was it really? There has been plenty of such modular construction going on for some time now:
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/nov/12/prefabs-britain-timber-frame-persimmon
and we are not just talking about houses, but schools, student accommodation etc:
http://www.yorkon.co.uk/
It is not the planning rules that are a problem so much as our ultra-traditional construction industry and the negative view some have of pre-fabs:
http://www.building.co.uk/is-prefab-just-a-fad?/1004632.article
http://ukconstructionblog.co.uk/2012/11/15/prefabs-sprout-as-britain-embraces-timber-frame-housing/
Modular construction (http://www.modular.org/htmlPage.aspx?name=why_modular) may, overall, reduce the cost of new builds and so may be unpopular with some in the building trade for just that reason. By the way, what are these “outdated planning rules” to which you refer?
“Sell off or better still build social housing on ex MOD land,there are thousands of acres just laid empty across the country”. Most of these sites are in the middle of nowhere and so well away from utilities, schools, hospitals, places of work, shops … What you propose is a major investment programme that at best might be a long term solution to UK housing needs. There are around 200,000 existing properties, unoccupied ones, that might easily be brought back into use and thus be a good first step in meeting current housing need. These properties are not, unsurprisingly, in areas requiring significant investment in utilities, public services and the like. Modular construction may be used to adapt some of these properties to make them fit for current housing needs by, for example, adding additional storeys and the like.
What we surely need is an evidence based approach to this issue not ill informed comment and pet theories? Incidentally, what is wrong with doing good? It was Tom Paine’s only religion and he was very much an advocate for the rights of the people!
In France you cannot sell a rented property without giving the renter a chance to buy the property themselves, this is just an exrension of that French law to some extent but the point JC is making is what’s the difference between a HA home and any other rental property
Yes – Housing Association properties are privately-owned, so why shouldn’t private landlords have to sell their properties too?
We have to remember that not all private landlords are money grabbing or rent out dilapidated properties and some really rely on the income from them.
My mum had to take her life savings and buy a flat to rent out (when properties were much cheaper, and not in London) because she was earning nearly 0% in interest and she needed this to top up her pension. She would never have been able to maintain her house or have anything like a good standard of living if she had not.
Since renting out the flat she’s actually reduced the rent compared to what it was 10 years ago, understanding that the recession has hit people hard. Each time the tenants vacate the property – on average every 2 years – she has it completely redecorated, the carpets either cleaned or replaced, new furniture bought and curtains etc.
She has not always received any income from the property; one man committed suicide and threw red wine all over the walls and carpets; another who stopped paying the rent completely trashed the property.
This idea of forcing all landlords to allow a ‘right to buy’ on their properties would therefore be most unfair to people like my mum and others, but it does make a point with regard to fairness in society. It’s hardly right that some would have this advantage and not others. The government could bring about a scheme whereby they help private tenants to buy, but they’ll hardly do something that results in them having to contribute; they’re quite happy to force others to – unless of course it’s well off people, then they’ve given them ‘help to buy’.
Yes; I don’t think he’s seriously suggesting it as a policy – he just wants people to realise exactly what the Tories are putting forward.