The Right to Buy Analysis and Evaluation of a Housing Policy

by Jones, Colin; Murie, Alan

• ISBN13: 9781405131971
• ISBN10: 1405131977
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-05-12
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

An evaluation of the most enduring privatisation of the Thatcher era ...Written in an accessible style, this is a key reference for students and researchers in housing and planning; geography; and social policy.The book analyses the operation and impact of the right to buy policy (RTB). It includes a critique of the Housing Act and the 2001 Housing (Scotland) Act. The enactment of these changes under a Labour government affirms the continuance of the RTB. The authors take stock of its profound effect on housing policy, reversing the growth in social housing developed over the twentieth century, transforming the nation's tenure structure and revolutionising the UK housing system.The Right to Buy: analysis and evaluation of a housing policy begins with an examination of the policy background to the establishment of the RTB and the main features of the legislation. This is followed by chapters that review its take-up and the pattern of sales and their impact on social housing; a chapter examining the financial aspects of the RTB from the viewpoints of tenants, local authorities and central government; one looking at the impact of the RTB via subsequent re-sales on the open market and on the private rented sector; and a chapter drawing on the information already reviewed to consider the potential of the RTB to create sustainable and diverse communities. In the final chapters the international experience of parallel policies are considered and the future take-up of the RTB is assessed in the light of recent reforms together with alternatives.

Author Biography

Colin Jones is Professor of Estate Management, School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University

Alan Murie is Professor of Housing, Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, University of Birmingham

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(4)
A Policy for its Time	5	(27)
The origins and development of council housing	8	(10)
Towards privatisation of council housing	18	(10)
Conclusions	28	(4)
The Right to Buy in the UK 1980--2005	32	(18)
Financial considerations	36	(1)
Developments in the Right to Buy	37	(2)
Modifying the Right to Buy	39	(10)
Conclusions	49	(1)
Unequal Opportunities, Time and Place	50	(27)
The starting point for the Right to Buy	51	(3)
The progress of the Right to Buy	54	(4)
Regional patterns	58	(2)
Local variations in rates of sale	60	(4)
Properties sold	64	(1)
Purchasers and choices	65	(10)
Conclusions	75	(2)
Transforming Social Housing	77	(22)
Policy context	77	(2)
The Right to Buy and access to council housing	79	(1)
National trends in lettings	80	(2)
Homelessness	82	(3)
Changing profile of council tenants	85	(3)
Local experiences	88	(8)
Conclusions	96	(3)
Extending the Owner-Occupied Housing Market	99	(21)
The housing system in the 1970s	99	(2)
The growth of the owner-occupied stock	101	(2)
Resales and the owner-occupied housing market	103	(6)
Property characteristics of Right to Buy resales	109	(3)
Characteristics of Right to Buy resale purchasers	112	(3)
The transformed housing market	115	(3)
Conclusions	118	(2)
Promoting the Private Rented Sector	120	(13)
Developments in the private rented sector	120	(1)
Resales and the `buy to let'	121	(3)
The Right to Buy and private companies	124	(2)
Tenure change in former council housing	126	(4)
The Right to Buy, homelessness and the private sector	130	(1)
Conclusions	131	(2)
Creating Sustainable Communities	133	(22)
Sustainable communities and home ownership	134	(2)
Perspectives on social change in council estates	136	(5)
The Right to Buy and sustainable communities	141	(11)
Conclusions	152	(3)
Housing Management and Housing Quality	155	(16)
Management and maintenance costs	156	(5)
Leasehold management	161	(2)
House condition issues	163	(6)
Conclusions	169	(2)
The Financial Equation	171	(17)
Public sector perspectives	171	(9)
Tenants' perspectives	180	(6)
Conclusions	186	(2)
Policy Transfer: international perspectives on housing privatisation	188	(20)
Central and eastern Europe	189	(4)
East Asia	193	(3)
Reluctant privatisers	196	(1)
The residual case: the USA	197	(2)
Outcomes	199	(5)
Conclusions	204	(4)
A Policy Past its Sell-By Date?	208	(16)
Historical policy context	208	(2)
Take up of the Right to Buy	210	(1)
Consequences for social housing	210	(1)
The impact on the owner-occupied sector	211	(1)
The promotion of the private rented sector	212	(1)
The Right to Buy and communities	213	(1)
Financial issues	214	(1)
Stakeholder outcomes	215	(4)
Key consequences and issues	219	(1)
The Right to Buy in the current housing policy context	219	(3)
Conclusions	222	(2)
Learning from the Right to Buy	224	(21)
Affordability and modernisation	225	(1)
Equity	226	(1)
Incentives and choices	227	(2)
Repeal or reinvest?	229	(2)
Privatisation as social policy	231	(3)
Integration with the housing market	234	(1)
Unequal opportunities	235	(3)
Home ownership and the new welfare state	238	(4)
Conclusions	242	(3)
References	245	(7)
Index	252