Fund Councils to Buy the Supply of Council Homes

We urgently need to replenish our decimated council housing stock, and part of the answer is real funding for councils to Buy the Supply.

Over 169,000 children are homeless and living in overcrowded and often dangerous temporary accommodation. Millions more families struggle to pay soaring private rents, meanwhile millions of council homes have been sold off since the start of Right to Buy, with only a tiny number of replacements built each year.

A Treasury-backed Buy the Supply fund is a serious missing link in the policies needed to fix this crisis. It would help more councils buy housing that already exists and turn it into brand new council homes. 

Whether that is buying back former council homes or snapping up other suitable houses when they are put on the market, buying the supply can achieve immediate, construction risk-free council housing near existing schools, parks and health services, without delay.

This is a proven solution, with many councils across the country already buying up good quality homes where they can afford to. But much more funding is needed.

That is why we need the Chancellor to look at this again, and create a huge new Buy the Supply fund to help councils make a real difference to all the families who need it. The benefits and savings add up and make this a great investment the Treasury must back at scale.

And of course a Buy the Supply fund must go hand in hand with wider measures including: