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Rayner suggests she could end Right to Buy on new council homes

Good morning and welcome to i‘s live politics blog.

Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has suggested that she could stop new council homes in England from being eligible for purchase under the Right to Buy scheme.

Ms Rayner told the BBC that the Government will be putting restrictions on new social homes “so that we aren’t losing that stock”.

The Right to Buy scheme, which was introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s government, enables social housing tenants to buy their homes at a discount and has resulted in over two million such sales.

Ms Rayner said that the UK is facing a “homelessness crisis,” announcing £10m to help support rough sleepers during the winter. Right to Buy, although increasing rates of home ownership, has also been blamed for contributing to the homelessness problem by reducing council house stock.

Labour has said it will build the largest number of social and council homes since World War Two, and Ms Rayner said that she does not want them “leaving the system”.

“We’ll be putting restrictions on them so that we aren’t losing those homes… we’re not losing that stock.”

Ministers will launch a consultation on the issue later this year.

The Government also announced that the discount people can get on their Right to Buy property will be reduced to between £16,000 and £38,000, depending on where it is.

In the Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves also announced that local authorities will be allowed to keep all the proceeds from a sale, a policy which the Tory government also followed for two years until March 2024.

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