Right to Buy Reforms don’t go far enough – say Southwark Liberal Democrats
Southwark Liberal Democrats have repeated their calls to end right to buy – which has seen over 2,500 Southwark Council homes lost to the scheme since the 80s.
This comes as the Government yesterday (April 28th) announced further reforms to right to buy – including extending the amount of time someone has to reside in the property before being eligible to buy it.
In 2024/2025, Southwark Council lost 80 homes to right to buy, whilst council statistics show that it started exactly zero new council homes in that year, and started just eight this year.
Liberal Democrats say the reforms are long overdue, but are a botched attempt at electioneering.
Commenting, Southwark Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Victor Chamberlain said:
“Trying to build more homes whilst losing them to right to buy is like filling a bucket with a hole in the bottom.
Whilst these reforms are a step in the right direction after years of Liberal Democrat pressure, they are a poor attempt at electioneering in elections where they are set to lose majorities in councils like ours. Even then, these reforms still don’t go far enough.
We need the Government to let councils decide for themselves what the rules are, so that boroughs like Southwark – which has a waiting list of 22,000 households - can keep its council housing for local people by ending right to buy for good.
Southwark Labour won’t stand up to their own Government – but Liberal Democrats will.
On 7th May residents can vote for Liberal Democrats to stand up to this failed Labour Government, and fix Southwark.”