Over 8,000 council homes in Yorkshire sold between 2019-2024 due to Right to Buy, impacting social housing availability.
Between 2019 and 2024, 8,708 homes sold in Yorkshire. This data comes from the government. Relaxing the rules made more sales possible. Almost 108,300 homes sold across England in ten years. Since 1980, nearly two million social houses sold because the Right to Buy policy started then.
Over the last five years, 46,700 homes sold in England. Last year saw 7,065 sales, less than the previous year’s 11,184. Sales are the lowest in eleven years, excluding the pandemic year.
Demolishing and selling homes reduces social housing, and councils are not replacing enough homes. In 2023-24, Yorkshire lost 650 social rent homes.
Here’s a breakdown for some areas in Yorkshire. Kirklees sold 852 homes from 2019 to 2024. They sold 132 in 2023-24, and 182 homes were sold in 2022-23. Leeds sold 2,727 homes from 2019 to 2024.
Last year, Leeds sold 484 homes, and 673 homes were sold during 2022-23. Sheffield saw 1,662 homes sold since 2019. They sold 249 homes last year, while in 2022-23, Sheffield sold 411.
Doncaster sold 492 homes since 2019. In 2023-24, they sold 96, and 123 homes were sold during 2022-23. Barnsley has sold 613 homes since 2019.
They sold 61 homes last year, and 123 homes sold in 2022-23. Rotherham sold 772 homes in five years. 121 sold in 2023-24, and in 2022-23, sales reached 202.
York sold 280 homes since 2019. They sold 50 homes last year, and 52 homes sold in 2022-23. East Yorkshire sold 334 homes since 2019. They sold 43 homes in 2023-24 and 84 sales happened in 2022-23.
Hull sold 976 homes since 2019. Last year, they sold 182, and 227 homes were sold in 2022-23. The government might change the scheme. This could help councils protect social housing and also help over a million people on waiting lists.
A charity said changes are “a critical step.” This will aid social housing and cut homelessness. But, this alone won’t fix the housing crisis. Shelter’s chief said we lose more homes than we build.
She said Right to Buy reforms are important, however, more action is needed. She wants the government to invest soon. They should build 90,000 social rent homes each year. This needs to happen for the next ten years.
The government says they inherited a housing crisis. They plan to build more social and affordable houses. Too many homes sold, not replaced. Reforms will help councils protect housing, and these reforms also help build new homes.
They added £500 million this year to help build affordable and social homes.