The Position of Former Council Homes in the Housing Market

Abstract

The Right to Buy for council tenants has now been in operation for 14 years. In that time around 1.5m public-sector dwellings in England have transferred to the owner-occupied sector. Most discussion of this process has focused on the impact on the public sector. This paper examines the contribution of council house sales to the recent growth of home ownership and price relationships between former council homes and other dwellings in the market. The paper draws on a major national study of the resale of former council homes which included a survey of over 3000 dwellings which had been resold by the original sitting tenant purchasers.