Council leaders are calling for the Right to Buy scheme to be abolished in a letter to the government. Councillor Zoe Nicholson, leader of Lewes District Council, and Councillor Stephen Holt, leader of Eastbourne Borough Council, have written to Angela Rayner, secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, to voice their opposition. It comes as a report, Securing the Future of Council Housing, was commissioned by Southwark Council on the challenges and risks council housing is facing and potential solutions.
Cllr Nicholson said: "Since Right to Buy was launched in the 1980s, the world has changed and, at a time when there is not enough social housing, this policy continues to further reduce the stock councils do have. “There are other ways of supporting low-cost homeownership, which would not see a reduction to much-needed council housing, and these options should be explored further." READ MORE: The number of no-fault evictions in Mid Sussex has risen Cllr Holt said: "I applaud Southwark Council for their excellent and most timely report and encourage the government to take forward the solutions, including the implementation of a more financially sustainable Housing Revenue Account model.
"These are interconnected issues that without reform will lead to the bleakest future for social housing." In January of this year, it was revealed that almost a third of social homes Brighton have been lost since the introduction of Right to Buy. Research by member of .