Portable Discounts Could Slow Right To Buy

A lack of detail surrounding plans for portable discounts could slow the introduction of the government’s flagship extension of the Right to Buy to housing association tenants. Under the ‘voluntary’ Right to Buy extension, housing associations will be allowed to exclude certain properties from the scheme at their discretion. This is likely to include hundreds of thousands of homes built under Section 106 agreements, homes in rural areas and socially rented properties funded by historic charitable trusts. Tenants living in these properties will qualify for ‘portable discounts’ which will allow them to buy another housing association property elsewhere- an aspect of the scheme which has not been piloted. Read more on Inside Housing.