Hastoe housing association (HA) has announced that it will be declining the government’s voluntary Right to Buy (RTB) scheme because of the potential impact of rural exemptions in the policy.
Hastoe owns and manages more than 7,000 homes in 62 local authority areas, which are predominantly rural.
In rural communities, homes managed by housing associations may be prioritised for RTB because they are more likely to be high value, “highly saleable” – and situated away from a housing association’s management base.
In a statement on its website, Hastoe.com, the HA says:
“In a village with more than one housing association landlord, some tenants would be eligible for the RTB and others not.
“This is not only unfair, but there is no doubt that this inconsistent approach – and the voluntary nature of the offer – would deter landowners and communities from bringing forward new schemes.
“We are already finding our landowners and communities backing off housing projects that we have been discussing with them for some time.”
The housing association gives other reasons why it will be “saying no” to the extended RTB policy – including the definition of a rural community under Section 17 of the Housing Act 1996.
Hastoe adds that there is a possibility that the retention of the 30% RTB discount would also act against new homes being built in rural communities, if a housing provider were not able to deliver replacement homes because, for example, “landowners and/or the community were nervous about the RTB”.
Hastoe says that there are unresolved issues round the offer because of “a real risk” that 30% of the discount “could be diverted to another association to use to build a home elsewhere in the country”.
The housing association says that, in rural communities, the policy potentially would deplete available affordable housing even further – and adds that RTB would put pressure on HAs to build more homes than those sold, simply to keep pace with the requirement to replace homes sold on a one-to-one basis.
Hastoe also suggests that the Regulatory Framework which housing associations would be bound by would give the government the flexibility to change its mind about crucial elements of the scheme – including who is responsible for paying the discount under RTB.
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