Lib Dems against social housing RTB

Tim Farron the recently elected leader of the Liberal Democrats made it clear in his speech at their conference this week, that his party were against the government plans for  right to buy for tenants of housing association homes.

He made it clear he would not allow the government to ‘destroy’ social housing by extending Margaret Thatcher’s flagship Right to Buy policy to include Housing Associations, the party would use their power in the House of Lords to block such plans.

In his first speech as leader at the  conference Farron set out plans to solve the housing crisis in England by building 300,000 new homes a year.

He said “Housing is the biggest single issue that politicians don’t talk about,”

“Well, we are going to talk about it, campaign on it, go on and on and on about it, and make a difference to the millions who have been ignored.

“Communities up and down this country have spent 25 years building housing association homes, picking up the pieces of Mrs Thatcher’s destruction of council housing, and we will not allow David Cameron to destroy that work too.”

He highlighted other policies that the Lib Dems would include to tackle the housing problem: Lifting the borrowing cap on local authorities, which the party claims could result in an extra 80,000 homes over five years, a ban on advertising UK properties to overseas investors first, a government-backed housing investment bank to provide capital for new homes and 10 new garden cities in England, including five major new settlements along a garden cities railway between Oxford and Cambridge.

 

Allen Walkey

Highly experienced businessman with a successful career in property sales and investment both in the UK and abroad. Now a freelance writer and blogger for the property and Investment Industry, keeping readers up-to-date with changes and events in a rapidly changing world.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Breaking Property News 13/2/26

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   96% of proptechs fail to get to series A funding – here is why Thought Leadership by Andrew Stanton, CEO Proptech-PR The proptech sector has never been short of ideas. From AI-driven valuations and digital conveyancing to smart buildings and tokenised real estate, innovation in property…
Read More
Breaking News

Landlords unprepared for the Renters’ Rights Act

Three quarters have made no preparations for the end of Section 21, despite major reforms taking effect from May 2026 New research from Inventory Base has revealed widespread lack of preparedness among UK landlords ahead of the first phase of reforms under the Renters’ Rights Act (RRA), due to come into force on 1 May…
Read More
Breaking News

Why capital is staying in London despite a cooling housing market

By Joe Freedman, Head of Origination at ASK Partners London isn’t suffering from a lack of housing demand. It’s suffering from a failure to deliver. New data from Molior underlines the scale of that failure. Just 5,547 private homes broke ground across the capital last year, an 84% drop from a decade ago. Against an…
Read More
Breaking News

The hidden risk of overvaluing your home when moving in today’s market

With many homeowners turning ambitious conversations into tangible moving plans, the start of the year traditionally marks a surge in activity, particularly for families planning for the future. While the property market remains fundamentally healthy, experts at Beresfords say overvaluing property is one issue that continues to undermine the progress of those looking to sell.…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Rightmove launches next phase of AI-powered property search

Rightmove, the UK’s largest property platform, has launched a beta version of AI-powered conversational property search, as it continues to enhance its property search experience. In close collaboration with Google Cloud and built with Google’s Gemini models, conversational search is available via the property search bar on Rightmove’s website homepage. The latest move further expands…
Read More
Breaking News

Should you break things off with your mortgage lender this Valentine’s Day?

As Valentine’s Day approaches, the latest research from award-winning mortgage adviser, Alexander Hall, has revealed that more than half of homeowners approaching the end of a fixed-rate mortgage are currently undecided on their relationship with their lender, despite notable improvements across the mortgage market over the last 12 months. The consumer insight, commissioned by Alexander…
Read More