Housing association homes are not for sale

[Ecovillage Network UK]

Housing association homes are not for sale, pledges Prescott
http://society.guardian.co.uk/conferences/story/0,9744,1313916,00.html?gusrc=ticker-103704

Matt Weaver
Monday September 27, 2004

The deputy prime minister, John Prescott, has snubbed Labour's new election 
strategist, Alan Milburn, by ruling out extending the right to buy to 
housing associations, and promised to limit the right of council tenants to 
buy their homes.

Speaking at a debate on sustainable communities at the party's conference 
yesterday, Mr Prescott pledged that housing association homes "are not for 
sale".

His remarks come less than a year after Mr Milburn called for big extension 
of home ownership - a key vote winner for the Conservatives in the 1980s.

Writing in the Guardian last November, before he rejoined the cabinet as 
the man responsible for drawing up Labour's next election manifesto, Mr 
Milburn said: "We should explore whether a right to buy or partially buy 
can be extended to housing association tenants, provided the associations 
can recycle receipts into building."

But yesterday, without referring directly to Mr Milburn, Mr Prescott 
dismissed this idea as Tory policy.

He said: "The Tories talk about part ownership, but all they want to do is 
extend the right to buy to all housing associations. Well, it ain't going 
to happen. Those homes are not for sale."

Mr Prescott also suggested that the government was planning to go further 
by scrapping the current right of council tenants to buy their homes at a 
discount and replacing it with a new part buy/part rent scheme.

He said: "We've spent over £40bn on right to buy. We've got to ask 
ourselves - are we getting value for money?"

He added: "Instead of chasing the market with ever-increasing discounts, 
why don't we give more tenants an equity share which they can take with them."

No further details were given, but Mr Prescott and his team are known to 
favour a system known as equity stakes, which allows tenants to buy a share 
in the value of their home with an interest-free loan.

Mr Prescott told delegates: "We can be more creative in getting people onto 
to the housing ladder. We can do a lot more to promote home ownership and 
still protect existing social housing stock."

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