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England

New government figures show only one social home is built for almost every three sold off

Posted 29 Mar 2018

Shelter responds to government figures showing dwindling numbers of social housing under the Right to Buy scheme. The data shows:  

  • that in the last year, 11,649 social homes have been sold off – while only 4,566 social homes are being built

  • this means only one social home is being built for almost every three sold

Shelter’s Campaigns Director, Greg Beales, said: “These dismal figures show that at a time when more families than ever need affordable homes, their chances of getting one are being wrenched away.

“Social housing must play a critical role in fixing the housing crisis in the future, but not if housing that’s sold off is not replaced, depleting what’s available for families who need urgent help.

“It is absolutely vital that any properties sold are replaced on a like-for-like basis. Without this guarantee, every home lost is another dent in our dwindling supply of the genuinely affordable homes people are crying out for.”

Notes to editors:

  • This data is taken from the ‘Quarterly Right to Buy Sales in England: October to December 2017-18’ release. The last year covers the period Q4 2016-17 to Q3 2017-18

  • Data on building includes starts on sites and acquisitions

  • In Q3 2017-18 (October to December), local authorities sold an estimated 2,815 dwellings under the Right to Buy scheme

  • In the same period there were 1,101 dwellings that were either started to be built or acquired as part of the Right to Buy replacement policy

  • This data is collected quarterly by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, and can be found here