More than 10,000 tenants use Right to Buy: Boost for scheme as number buying their council house doubles in a year

Margaret Thatcher's flagship Right to Buy scheme has been given a boost with the number of people buying their council houses doubling in a year.

Ten thousand tenants have purchased their properties since last year, the highest level since before the recession, after the government increased the discounts available.

Buyers are now able to get a discount of Ј75,000 - treble what they were getting in most parts of the country - and Ј100,000 off the price in London from this year, four times the previous rate.

David Cameron praised the opening up of home ownership to those previously locked out of the property market, and said the money raised would be ploughed into building more affordable homes.

New proposals expected to be made law by next year would further relax the rules, allowing tenants to buy their homes after living in them for just three years, rather than the current five.
Kris Hopkins, the new housing minister, said: 'For years the Right to Buy was allowed to wither on the vine, with ever-decreasing discounts leaving the prospect of home ownership out of reach for far too many social tenants. 

'But our reinvigorated scheme has changed that, with increased discounts helping more than 10,000 new homeowners on to the property ladder.

'And because we've committed to using the additional money raised towards funding new affordable homes for rent, we're also getting Britain building and will soon have the fastest rate of affordable house-building for two decades.' dailymail