Among the slew of “red meat” policies that are now being put forward to shore up Boris Johnson’s position, there is one that ought to cause real concern for those want to see fair and balanced housing in this country. The government is proposing to resurrect right to buy for tenants in housing association properties, allowing tenants to potentially use their housing benefit in order to buy their social properties at discounts of up to 70% of market price.
This rehashing of one of Margaret Thatcher’s flagship policies originally formed part of the hugely contested and controversial Housing and Planning Act, introduced by the Conservatives in their 2015 general election manifesto. It was sidelined in 2016 by Theresa May and her chief of staff, Gavin Barwell, in favour of a more balanced approach that valued different types of housing: home ownership, private rental and “affordable” housing.
