Newcastle City Council have welcomed news that Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, plans to shake up the Right to Buy social housing scheme.
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00:00With over 8,000 active social housing applications on the waiting list,
00:03Newcastle City Council has been lobbying the government for additional assistance
00:06with the Right to Buy scheme for a while now.
00:08Well, their prayers may have finally been answered as Deputy Prime Minister Angela
00:12Rayner has promised to shake up the current system to tackle the country's housing crisis.
00:16The systemic problems appear far worse in the north-east than in other areas of the country.
00:20The Shelter conducted research that showed that between 2022 and 2023,
00:23the number of households on the social housing waiting list across the north-east jumped by 51%.
00:27To put that into context, the next biggest increase was in the north-west with just 8%.
00:32Labour councillor Paula Maynes, the council's cabinet member for housing,
00:35stated that a fairer Right to Buy will help councils like Newcastle to protect the housing
00:39stock while continuing to give residents the opportunity to get onto the housing ladder.
00:43She added,
00:44People are at the heart of everything we do,
00:45and the proposed changes are a step in the right direction to help us meet the needs of our
00:48residents. Changes that have been put forward include increasing the current three-year
00:52eligibility period, after which tenants can apply to the Right to Buy scheme,
00:56and ensuring council homes are replaced on a one-for-one basis when sold off.