Councils Forced To Pay £800m In RTB Cash Back To Treasury

Councils have paid over £800m in cash from right-to-buy sales back to the Treasury over the past five years. The sum arises out of a response from Housing Minister Gavin Barwell to a written question from Shadow Housing Secretary, John Healey. Barwell said the practice of seizing the local authority funds was “part of addressing the deficit in the nation’s finances.” However, Labour has called the revelations “shameful” and produced analysis showing that money could have been used to build 12,586 additional council properties – almost double the number actually built over the last five years. Healey is now urging the Chancellor to use the Budget to build more council homes. Read more on 24housing.