The Right To Buy

The Right to Buy has had a massive impact on Housing in the UK for 35 years and in 2015 there were proposals to extend it. But what is the Right to Buy policy, how has it developed and what has its impact been? What evidence is there about the wider and unintended consequences of the policy? How are the proposals to extend the policy in England likely to affect future housing provision and what alternatives are there? In The Right to Buy, Alan Murie provides an authoritative account of the origins, development and impact of the policy across the UK and proposals for its extension in England (and decisions to end it in Scotland and Wales). Presenting up-to-date statistical material the book engages with debates about transfers to private renting, the impact on public expenditure and on the current housing situation, addresses the proposals for new legislation and details the potential impact of these. It is an essential read for anyone interested in this highly topical issue.

An evaluation of the most enduring privatisation of the Thatcher era ... Written in an accessible style, this is a key reference for students and researchers in housing and planning; geography; and social policy. The book analyses the operation and impact of the right to buy policy (RTB). It includes a critique of the Housing Act and the 2001 Housing (Scotland) Act. The enactment of these changes under a Labour government affirms the continuance of the RTB. The authors take stock of its profound effect on housing policy, reversing the growth in social housing developed over the twentieth century, transforming the nation's tenure structure and revolutionising the UK housing system. The Right to Buy: analysis and evaluation of a housing policy begins with an examination of the policy background to the establishment of the RTB and the main features of the legislation. This is followed by chapters that review its take-up and the pattern of sales and their impact on social housing; a chapter examining the financial aspects of the RTB from the viewpoints of tenants, local authorities and central government; one looking at the impact of the RTB via subsequent re-sales on the open market and on the private rented sector; and a chapter drawing on the information already reviewed to consider the potential of the RTB to create sustainable and diverse communities. In the final chapters the international experience of parallel policies are considered and the future take-up of the RTB is assessed in the light of recent reforms together with alternatives.

Following the 2015 General Election, the Government announced that it was seeking to extend the Right to Buy to tenants of housing associations. This policy, alongside others such as the 1 per cent reduction in social rents and a 'pay to stay' model which would charge differential rents according to tenant income, was likely to have a significant impact on housing associations. We therefore wanted to explore how their work and the services they provide might change, and what the impact might be for the wider social housing sector and the provision of affordable homes. Shortly after our investigations began, a deal to implement the extended Right to Buy on a voluntary basis was reached between the National Housing Federation and the Government. We recognise that the voluntary deal is a way of delivering a key policy from the Government's Manifesto whilst maintaining the independence of housing associations. However there remains much uncertainty in the wording of the agreement, for example regarding whether associations which voted against it are bound by its terms and the extent of the discretion to decline sales. The extended Right to Buy is designed to increase home ownership and increase housing supply. We support these aspirations and the principle of giving people the opportunity to buy their own home. Despite this, we feel that there are unresolved issues and remain concerned that the Government's policies could have a detrimental effect on the provision of accessible and affordable housing across all tenures, particularly affordable rented. We are also concerned that the extended Right to Buy could hinder the provision of specialist and supported housing schemes. Maintaining and protecting the provision of affordable housing in rural areas is also an issue that we believe needs to be addressed in order to protect our rural communities. The terms of the voluntary agreement allow for portable discounts to be offered in place of certain properties, but it remains unclear how this would operate.

Should we pay children to read books or to get good grades? Should we allow corporations to pay for the right to pollute the atmosphere? Is it ethical to pay people to test risky new drugs or to donate their organs? What about hiring mercenaries to fight our wars? Auctioning admission to elite universities? Selling citizenship to immigrants willing to pay? In What Money Can't Buy, Michael J. Sandel takes on one of the biggest ethical questions of our time: Is there something wrong with a world in which everything is for sale? If so, how can we prevent market values from reaching into spheres of life where they don't belong? What are the moral limits of markets? In recent decades, market values have crowded out nonmarket norms in almost every aspect of life—medicine, education, government, law, art, sports, even family life and personal relations. Without quite realizing it, Sandel argues, we have drifted from having a market economy to being a market society. Is this where we want to be?In his New York Times bestseller Justice, Sandel showed himself to be a master at illuminating, with clarity and verve, the hard moral questions we confront in our everyday lives. Now, in What Money Can't Buy, he provokes an essential discussion that we, in our market-driven age, need to have: What is the proper role of markets in a democratic society—and how can we protect the moral and civic goods that markets don't honor and that money can't buy?