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Millions of British renters to have access to 'right to buy' housing scheme

Xinhua, May 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

More than 1.3 million families living in rented homes in England are to be given the legal right to buy them, Britain's communities secretary Greg Clark announced Tuesday.

The decision represents the biggest sell-off of social housing since Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's "right to buy" bill in the 1980s.

That opened the door to around five million tenants winning the right to climb onto the property ladder, helped by huge discounts of up to 77,871 British pounds (120,000 U.S. dollars) on houses outside London, and 103,829 pounds in the capital.

Clark's new measure is seen as a landmark change to extend home ownership to millions, as part of the government's commitment to working people.

Prime Minister David Cameron trailed the plans just before the recent general election. With the Conservatives now holding a majority government, the scheme now seems unstoppable.

However, critics of the scheme to sell housing association houses to tenants fear it will worsen Britain's chronic housing shortages by removing thousands of homes out of the much-needed rental sector.

Yet Clark said in a statement Tuesday: "Our housing bill will offer over a million people a helping hand onto the housing ladder. That is what a government for working people is about -- making sure people have the security they need."

Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said: "The vast majority of people want to own their own home. While substantial progress has already been made in helping people achieve this, with more than 200,000 households helped to buy a home since 2010 through government-backed schemes, further action must be taken."

Money raised from selling rented homes to occupants will help build replacement affordable homes on a one-for-one basis.

First-time buyers will be further helped with plans to build 200,000 starter homes, available at a 20-percent discount to first-time buyers under 40 years old.

New government measures will also give people the legal right to be allocated land so they can build their own homes. Endit