Right to Buy Scheme – Parliamentary Written Answer

Alan Johnson:  To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department has spent on sending out information on the Right to Buy scheme to people who are not housing association or council tenants.

Brandon Lewis: Total spend on direct marketing from 2012 is £280,773 in 2012/13, £334,163 in 2013/14, £329,165 in 23014/15 and £195,757 to date in 2015/16. The 2015/16 figure does not include final costs for the most recent wave of direct marketing that took place in February 2016.

Minister Defends 'Immoral' Right to Buy Marketing

The government has been slammed as ‘immoral’ for splashing more than £900,000 on a marketing campaign to promote the right to buy.  Tenants groups and councils have accused the CLG of wasting money after Inside Housing revealed that the total spend on marketing the reinvigorated policy had topped £900,000, including almost £500,000 on direct marketing to tenants.  But housing minister Mark Prisk has sprung to the government’s defence, saying it has sparked ‘a huge surge in interest’ from tenants looking to buy their homes. He also urged councils to do more to ensure tenants knew about the policy. Critics of the spending have claimed that tenants have not flocked to take up the new discounts because of the constrained mortgage market, rather than a lack of awareness of increased discounts.  Read more on Inside Housing.

CLG Marketing Drive Slated

The government has spent almost a million pounds on a marketing campaign promoting its reinvigorated right to buy policy.  A freedom of information request sent to the CLG revealed it had spent an estimated £466,222 by November 2012 on sending letters to council tenants in 62 English councils. This follows £460,332 spent on a print advertising campaign last year, bringing the CLG’s overall spend on promotional material for the scheme to £926,554.  Government figures show that, despite huge interest, less than 1,500 local authority right to buy sales were completed in the first six months after the policy was introduced in April last year. There were 2,610 sales in the whole of 2011/12. Read more on Inside Housing.

Prisk Urges Mortgage Lenders to Back Revamped Right to Buy

In a speech to the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ annual conference Housing Minister Mark Prisk pleaded with delegates to support the Government's revamped Right to Buy scheme, which it is currently promoting through a "concerted marketing campaign" targeting hundreds of thousands of households.  Prisk said “The relationship between social homes, the rental sector and private ownership are often overlooked, and we're trying to bring them together. Right to Buy is back on the agenda, and should be considered afresh. we have now completely revamped [the Right to Buy scheme]. The potential discounts for tenants have radically increased, almost quadrupling in some areas to £75,000. And we have a concerted marketing campaign, which, over the coming months will continue to target hundreds of thousands of households to explain the changes, and how they can buy. My question here is, are you aware of this change? There's a real opportunity here, right across the country. Are you ready to be part of it?”  Read more of this speech on the CLG website.

CLG Spent £660k on Right to Buy Promotion

The CLG has spent around two thirds of its million pound annual advertising budget promoting the reinvigorated right to buy.  Figures show the department spent £198,000 on direct marketing for the scheme, and £460,332 on print advertising.  Earlier in the year lenders accused the CLG of pushing the right to buy too aggressively after it sent a letter to councils suggesting wording they could use to promote the scheme. Councils said they would not use the document as it did not place enough emphasis on the financial risks that come with taking on a mortgage.  Read more on Inside Housing.