Sheffield homes: Council spends £52m repurchasing Right to Buy properties to tackle homelessness

The authority has spent £52 million on 725 Right to Buy properties, including £20.7 million on 244 homes since the start of 2020.

Tenants renting local authority-owned homes can buy them at a discounted rate under legislation introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1980. 

Councils have first refusal on buying them back if they are later put up for sale.

Claire Holland, spokesperson for the Local Government Association, said their aim was to increase housing stock to cut the “vast sums” spent on temporary accommodation.

She added: “Councils have a right of first refusal if the buyer wants to sell, but this is invariably more than what they originally sold it for.

"With councils spending vast sums on costly temporary accommodation due to the shortage of social housing, they look for ways to increase their stock, which includes buying back previous council homes.”

The LGA has urged reform of Right to Buy, including one-to-one replacement of lost housing stock, councils retaining 100 per cent of sales receipts, being able to set discounts locally, and excluding new builds from the scheme.

A Sheffield City Council spokeswoman said they did not record Right to Buy purchases separately. But it is estimated they make up 80 per cent - some 640 - of 800 properties acquired over the last 10 years, excluding new builds.

Surveys and valuations were obtained to calculate whether they would be a good investment over a 30-year timeline, she added.

Tenants buy properties from the council at a discount of 35 per cent compared to market value.  If homes are sold it within five years buyers have to pay that saving back to the council.

Councillor Douglas Johnson, chair of the housing policy committee at Sheffield City Council, said: “Like the rest of the country, Sheffield has a shortage of affordable homes and housing need continues to grow. It’s vital that this shortage is reduced as quickly as possible for those who need a home.

“We’re working to close this gap and focusing on reducing the number of empty homes in the city by repairing and refurbishing properties so that they can be lived in. Since November 2023, we’ve brought 300 empty homes back into use.

“We do buy some council houses back from tenants who have purchased them from us in the past to increase our council housing stock, where it’s appropriate for us to do so.

“Importantly, we are also continuously improving the turnaround time it takes to let a home when it becomes vacant, so that the next resident can move in as quickly as possible.”

In February, Sheffield City Council announced plans to buy 417 pre-existing homes of all types, including new build, over the next five years.

Sheffield City Council has nearly 39,000 council houses. Some 745 are empty, with 172 requiring ‘major works’ before they can be re-let, the latest figures show. The rest are in the process of being “repaired, advertised, matched, or viewed.” 

Some 25,502 people are on the waiting list for a council house, including 1,211 ‘active priority cases’ which have an ‘assessed housing need’.

Sheffield City Council says it has an ‘open housing register’ which allows people to apply to join and accrue ‘waiting time’ without any assessed housing need.

The new Right to Buy data was in a freedom of information response.