Thatcher era right-to-buy scheme abolished

Scots will no longer have the “right-to-buy” their council house after it was abolished by the Scottish Parliament.

Picture: PA

MSPs voted to ditch the landmark policy of the Thatcher Government as part of the Housing Bill which was passed today.

Ministers want to boost the number of homes available in the social rental sector and say ending right to buy, for council and housing association tenants, will help achieve this.

Housing minister Margaret Burgess told MSPs it was an “outdated and unpopular policy.”

“Right-to-buy has had its day and has no place in the Scotland we want to build,” she said.

“Ending right-to-buy will preserve valuable social housing, increase choice for tenants and those on waiting lists, and help ensure social housing’s role in mixed tenure communities that people want to live in.”

Conservative housing spokesman Alex Johnstone made a last-ditch attempt to save right-to-buy which was first introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1980. But this was rejected by MSPs who voted by 103 to 12 against his amendment.

He insisted scrapping the policy was a “mistake” and would be “counter productive”.

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