HOMES sold under Right to Buy have risen by 90% with over two million since 1980 – but experts warn “every property sold reduces the pool of affordable housing”.
Since the start of the Right to Buy scheme in 1980, until 31 March 2026, there have been 2,052,813 sales to tenants through the Right to Buy scheme, new data published today shows.
In 2025-26, local authorities reported 14,275 eligible sales, an increase of 90% compared to 2024-25. From these 14,275 sales, local authorities received £1.61 billion. The average receipt per dwelling was £112,900, an increase of 5% compared to 2024-25.
A total of 3,452 replacements were funded in 2025-26 through receipts from eligible sales, a decrease of 7% compared with 2024-25.
Of these, local authorities started or acquired 3,442 properties and Homes England or the Greater London Authority started or acquired 10 properties.
Rachel Springall, Finance Expert at Moneyfactscompare.co.uk, said it can create a dilemma for the wider housing market.
She added: “The short supply of affordable housing makes the Right to Buy scheme highly attractive for aspiring homeowners, giving them a chance to buy the home they already live in at a discounted price. There has been a significant rise in the number of council homes sold under Right to Buy in 2025-26, an increase of 90% compared with 2024-25.
“More than two million homes have now been sold under the scheme since it was launched in 1980 under the Housing Act, showing its popularity among those who perhaps could not afford a property for sale on the open market. However, the amount of homes sold under the scheme does create a dilemma for the wider housing market, as social housing stock needs to be replaced.”
Significant rise
Springall continued: “There are currently proposed reforms to overhaul the Right to Buy scheme under the Social Housing Bill, currently going through Parliament. The proposed changes to the Right to Buy scheme could cause a rush for tenants to buy their home in the months ahead, so seeking advice would be wise. Potential buyers currently need just three years as a public sector tenant to qualify, but this is planned to rise to 10 years under the new reforms.
“On top of this, to shield housing stock, newly built social homes will be protected from the scheme for 35 years, alongside an exclusion of ‘hard-to-replace’ rural homes and an adjustment to discounts on market value. A third reading of the bill is expected in September, so there is still time for tenants to start the process of buying their home if they are eligible under the Right to Buy rules.
Stephen Perkins, Managing Director at Norwich-based Yellow Brick Mortgages, asked whether homes are being replaced fast enough.
He added: “Right to Buy has helped millions achieve home ownership and that shouldn’t be overlooked. The bigger question is whether we’re replacing those homes quickly enough.
“Every property sold reduces the pool of affordable housing unless it’s replaced, so success shouldn’t just be measured by how many tenants buy their home, but by whether councils can maintain the overall supply for future generations.”
Nouran Moustafa, Practice Principal & IFA at Roxton Wealth, said prospective homeowners are rushing to take advantage of the scheme before it is cut.
She added: “Right to Buy has been brilliant at creating individual homeowners, but terrible at replacing the social homes it removes. The 90% surge is likely the aftershock of tenants racing to secure the previous, more generous discounts before they were cut. The real scandal is the replacement gap.
“Even allowing for timing differences, 14,275 sales against only 3,452 replacement homes funded is nowhere close to a sustainable cycle. Every home sold without an effective replacement shrinks the safety net for the next family and pushes more households towards an already expensive private rental market.
“The scheme should not be abolished, but every sale must genuinely fund a like-for-like replacement in the same area, with receipts released quickly and councils given the power to build. Homeownership cannot be expanded by quietly dismantling social housing. After more than two million sales, the question is no longer whether Right to Buy works for the buyer; it is whether it works for the country.”
Massive surge
Darryl Dhoffer, Founder at Bedford-based The Mortgage Geezer, said sales have skyrocketed while new builds have dropped.
He added: “That massive surge in sales was just everyone scrambling before the government ruined the party by slashing right-to-buy discounts back to pre-2012 levels.
“Sure, councils banked a neat pile of cash, but the replacement scheme remains an absolute masterclass in modern maths, while sales skyrocketed, new builds actually dropped. Replacing barely a fraction of what you sell, on top of the millions lost over the decades, is certainly one bold strategy for managing social housing.”
David Stirling, Independent Financial Adviser at Belfast-based Mint Wealth, said waiting lists for council homes are growing.
He added: “Right to Buy is one of those policies that is impossible to argue against in principle and very difficult to defend in practice. The aspiration is legitimate, the popularity is genuine, and the long-term effect on social housing stock has been quietly catastrophic.
“Selling council homes to the people living in them sounds like common sense until you notice that the replacements never quite materialise, the waiting lists keep growing, and the homes that leave the public stock tend not to return. After forty-five years and two million sales, the scheme has done rather more for the property-owning democracy than it has for the people still waiting for a home.”
Aaron Strutt, Product and Communications Director at London-based Trinity Financial, said Right to Buy includes a huge discount.
He added: “Some of the discounts on Right to Buy are quite large. For example, someone trying to purchase a two-bedroom house they had been living in for 10 years recently had a £126,000 discounted purchase price on a £445,000 property. Another one trying to buy a £430,000 property had a £136,000 discount.
“There are quite a few mortgage lenders accepting Right to Buy. They get applications from people buying homes of a wide range of values and locations. There is a real mixture of people trying to buy their council house; some of them have good incomes and partners they want to add to mortgage applications. Others are searching to see if they can afford to buy, even if they know their chances are limited.”
