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Right to Buy boosts North West housing sales

Councils in the North West have seen significant rises in house-buyer numbers after the relaunch of the Right to Buy scheme.

In April last year, council house tenants were offered a £75,000 discount if they wished to purchase their homes, which is three times the previous discount offered to eligible tenants.

Interest in house purchases doubled as a result of this development, from 1,041 between July and September 2012 to 2,010 between October and December in the same year.

Councils across the North West sold 161 houses between April and December last year, in comparison to 110 across the whole of 2011/12.

Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council sold 53 houses since April 2012, up from 28 for the whole of the previous year, while Manchester City Council sold 42 homes in the same period, up from 28 in 2011/12.

Stockport also saw rises in house purchases, as the council sold 17 homes since April last year in comparison with 12 in the previous 12 months.

West Lancashire Borough Council sold 15 homes in the same period, which is five more than the whole of 2011/12.

These rises were welcomed by Housing Minister, Mark Prisk, who said the Right to Buy scheme had “opened the door to home ownership.”

He added: “I’m delighted to see so many taking up this opportunity.But from the 200,000 hits on our website, to the councils that report to me the surge they’ve seen in applications, I know there are many more that want to follow in their footsteps.

“I would urge any tenant aspiring to buy their home to contact their council […] to find out how they can take their first step onto the property ladder.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .