In May 2025, the LGA sent an online survey to Directors of Housing within stockholding local authorities in England to understand what impact, if any, these changes to the Right to Buy scheme may have had on housing stock.
Key findings
- An average of 527 Right to Buy applications were received per authority during the 2024/25 financial year, two-thirds of which (67 per cent) were received during the three-week period after the announcement – but prior to the enforcement – of changes to the scheme set out in the Autumn Budget.
- Of the applications received during the three-week period, at the time of fieldwork 2 per cent had resulted in a sale, whilst 8 per cent were awaiting legal completion and a further 19 per cent were at the offer-to-tenant stage. In addition, 8 per cent of applications had been withdrawn.
- Just under half of all respondents (44 per cent) had made use to a great or moderate extent of the increase in the maximum permitted contribution from Right to Buy receipts, and many respondents called for the further extension of this flexibility beyond the 2025/26 financial year.
- Around half of all respondents (48 per cent) felt more positive about council housebuilding to a great or moderate extent as a result of reforms introduced in the past year.
- Just under a quarter of respondents (23 per cent) reported that new housing stock schemes had been unlocked or become viable due to recent reforms, delivering an average of 194 homes per authority.
- Published by:
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LGA
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