Voluntary Right To Buy Pilot Review: Doubts Raised Over One-For-One Replacement Of Homes Sold

Replacing social housing sold through the Midlands pilot of the Voluntary Right to Buy (VRTB) on a one-for-one basis will be “challenging”, an evaluation of the project has warned. Replacement homes will be on average smaller, at higher rents and include more homes for shared ownership and fewer for rent. If the policy was to be rolled out nationally, it is predicted that 32,000 homes would be sold off in the first year and 223,843 would be sold off in the first decade. The vast majority of the 1,892 homes sold through the pilot by the end of April last year were for social rent, but researchers estimated that just 27% of replacements will be for this tenure. Download the evaluation from the MHCLG website.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/958999/VRTB_Evaluation_v5_FINAL.pdf