Right-to-Buy surge threatens council housing build-up promised by Burnham

A sharp increase in Right to Buy transactions, driven by tens of thousands of applications after the 2024 discount cut, has surged 90% to 14,275 sales last year, far exceeding the government's forecast of a rapid decline to roughly 1,650 annually. Councils across London, the Midlands, Yorkshire and the South West are now on track to sell five times the expected number this year and three times as many in 2027-28, threatening Andy Burnham's pledge to launch the biggest post-war council housebuilding programme.

Local authorities such as Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Leeds, Sheffield and others report massive backlogs, with some awaiting valuation decisions and lacking legal staff to clear applications. Housing experts say the continued outflow of homes creates a “leaky housing bucket,” and council leaders argue that relying on sale proceeds to fund replacements is unrealistic, as it takes the revenue from three homes to build one. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government maintains that upcoming reforms in the Social Housing Bill will curb sales and provide £39 bn for new social and affordable homes, but critics doubt the measures will close the supply gap in time.