The right-to-buy scheme was introduced in October 1980. The number of council homes sold to sitting tenants under the scheme in England is shown in the following table:
Number of sales 1980-81 2,328 1981-82 105,199 1982-83 167,123 1983-84 106,262 1984-85 77,522 1985-86 72,142 1986-87 76,748 1987-88 93,729 1988-89 135,701 1989-90 133,804 1990-91 76,332 1991-92 48,290 1992-93 37,686 1993-94 44,678 1994-95 43,336 1995-96 31,512 1996-97 33,206 1997-98 41,329 1998-99 40,272 1999-2000 54,251 2000-01 52,380 2001-02 51,968 2002-03 63,394 2003-04 69,577 2004-05 49,983 2005-06 26,655 Total 1,735,407 Notes: 1. Data includes estimates for non-responding authorities. 2. Information on other sales to sitting tenants (eg, under the voluntary powers in section 32 of the Housing Act 1985) is not readily available. Source: Statistical returns from local authorities.
Under Part 5 of the Housing Act 1985, secure tenants of local authority landlords, and tenants of housing associations who held secure tenancies with those associations prior to 1988, have the right to buy the home they rent. A tenant who held a secure tenancy with a local authority, and subsequently became an assured tenant of a housing association following transfer of their home to the association with the authority's housing stock, has a “preserved right to buy”.
Local authorities and housing associations must sell properties to such tenants if they have been public sector tenants for at least five years before applying for the right to buy (two years if their tenancies began prior to 18 January 2005), unless:
the tenant is an undischarged bankrupt;
the property is exempt from the right to buy: ie, (i) it is let in connection with the tenant's employment; (ii) it is particularly suitable for occupation by elderly or physically or mentally disabled people; (iii) it is due to be demolished, or (iv) the landlord has an insufficient interest in it - ie, is unable to grant a lease of at least 21 years on a house or 50 years on a flat.