Leeds City Council sees huge surge of tenants applying to buy homes after right-to-buy scheme changes

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Leeds City Council saw a huge surge in tenants applying to buy their homes after changes to the right-to-buy scheme were announced.

The council said that 2,500 applications were received after the government said it would reduce discounts for buyers.

Reforms designed to protect social housing from being sold off were revealed in the UK Government’s autumn budget.

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Tenants were given a deadline of November 20 to apply to buy before the reduced discounts came into force.

Jess Lennox, Labour’s executive member for housing, said 2,500 was around four per cent of all council homes, worth millions of pounds in rental income.

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Speaking a a scrutiny board meeting, Coun Lennox said: “If people felt like it was their last chance to buy their house, that will have been why they put their application in.

“If we lose four per cent of our existing stock, it is going to take a long time to replenish that.”

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The Infrastructure, Investment and Inclusive Growth scrutiny board was told around 80 right-to-buy applications were usually received each month.

Applications surged ahead of the November deadline but had since fallen to around 20 per month. Between 60 and 70 per cent usually led to a sale.

Coun Lennox, who represents Crossgates and Whinmoor, said: “It does remain to be seen how many of these homes will actually be sold as a result of the the deadline in November.”

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A report to the meeting said the council had been losing around 500 homes per year as tenants exercised their right to buy.

But Leeds was delivering more new affordable homes each year than cities of a similar size.

The council said it was supportive of the reforms as it struggled to help thousands of people on the waiting list.

The report said: “However, the announcements have led to over 2,500 right-to-buy applications being made by the deadline, prior to changes on discount rates coming into force on November 20.”

The discounts were cut to pre-2012 levels, ranging from £16,000 to £38,000 for tenants.

A consultation on further right-to-buy reforms was also launched by the government.

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