Member

When one looks at the impact assessment, which I have had the opportunity to do during the dinner break, it reminds us that the Government’s right-to-buy reforms will lead, over 10 years, to an estimated reduction in the number of council house sales overall from 51,600 to 28,500. But a different measure is the extent to which we are building more homes as a consequence of the right-to-buy receipts, and that is a reduction of 22,000. Because there are 66,000 fewer sales of council houses, the council housing stock is going up by 18,000, instead of going down by 26,000. But there are many of us who say that we should be focused on whether we are building more homes for social rent. Are we reducing the level of need that is as yet unmet?