Following welcome actions from the UK Government in this year's Autumn Budget to support house building, raise housing supply and make homes more affordable, the Assembly Member for Montgomeryshire has backed Welsh Conservative calls for the Welsh Government to support home ownership and restore the Right to Buy.
The Welsh Government's Abolition of the Right to Buy Bill seeks to remove the right of social tenants in Wales to purchase their home and a ban is expected to come into force before the 2021 assembly election, a retrograde step according to Assembly Member, Russell George.
Some 139,000 council and housing association homes in Wales have been sold since Right to Buy was introduced in 1980 under Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government.
Mr George said:
"The Abolition of the Right to Buy Bill marks a sad time for Welsh home ownership.
“The Right to Buy policy has been extremely successful across the UK, responding to the aspirations of those on lowest incomes to purchase their own home.
“The problems within the housing market have arisen due to a lack of housing supply in Wales, not because of the 300 or 400 homes that are currently being sold under the Right to Buy policy.
“I and my colleagues have consistently tried to offer sensible ideas of reform for this popular policy so that the permanent abolition could be avoided. However, the Welsh Government were simply not prepared to listen.
"The public should know that the Welsh Government has failed to support everyone with home ownership ambitions across Mid Wales.”