The government has begun a review of the "right to buy" scheme for council house tenants, calling into question one of Margaret Thatcher's most vaunted policies as it reaches out to Liberal Democrat backbenchers ahead of their party conference. The Lib Dems have been told the Tory housing minister Grant Shapps is looking for ways to increase the stock available to the swelling numbers on the waiting list. Shapps, who will attend the Lib Dem conference, is aware its rank and file want action on issues close to their hearts in return for support for the coalition. Tenants who have lived in a house for five years or more are able to buy their home. But with 4.5 million people on council housing waiting list - 1.8 million households - and an average of over five years to progress through to the front of the queue, Lib Dems are pushing for a reform of the system. A review of "right to buy" did not feature in the coalition agreement and Shapps said he would be extending it when he was shadow housing minister before the election. Any attempt to end the scheme will alarm many in the Conservative party. Read the full story on the Guardian website by clicking on the logo below.
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