Posted 03.05.16
A new Public Accounts Committee report raises significant and pressing concerns about the extension of the Government's Right to Buy policy.
The Department for Communities and Local Government has announced its intention to give 1.3 million tenants of housing associations, through voluntary agreement with the sector, the chance to buy their home at Right to Buy levels of discount. Provisions in the Housing and Planning Bill 2015-16 will enable this voluntary agreement to be implemented.
In its report, the Committee concludes "many key policy details have not been clarified" and highlights continuing uncertainty around funding, replacement housing and abuse of the scheme.
The Committee took the unusual step of hearing evidence on the policy prior to implementation, stating in its Report that it was mindful of "both the potential impacts of the policy on a large number of individuals, and the significant amount of public money likely to be involved".
The Committee concludes that the Department "has presented Parliament with little information on the potential impacts of the legislation required" and that it is "not clear how this policy will be funded in practice, or what its financial impacts might be".
It expresses concern that the Government's commitment to replace homes sold under the policy on at least a one-for-one basis "will not ensure that these will be like-for-like replacements" and that new homes "can be a different size and in a different area, and may cost more to rent".
It also comments that increases in the value of discounts available under the policy "have increased the risk of abuse".
Recommendations
In its recommendations to Government, the Committee calls on the Department to publish a full impact assessment of the policy in line with established Treasury guidance.
By the time of this year's Autumn Statement, it should publish "a full analysis showing how this policy is to be funded, provide a clear statement of where financial and other risks lie, and spell out its contingency plan if its policies prove not to be fiscally neutral".
The Department should also publish detailed data on replacement homes and address concerns around fraud including "setting out its plans for tackling fraud and abuse to protect public money".
