Another Failure

When Mrs Thatcher was the prime minister she introduced legislation that allowed council tenants to buy their rented houses. She announced this change as making Britain "a property owning democracy", but that has turned out to be empty boast. 'In echoes of Margaret Thatcher's drive to force local authorities in the 1980s to sell their properties at a cut price, the Government's new initiative to encourage councils to sell their houses is having a disastrous effect in allowing social housing to be exploited for personal profit. Councils are selling off their already limited supplies of housing stock and allowing former council tenants to profiteer as buy-to-let landlords. That is forcing local authorities to pay more to place deprived families in properties that used to be council-owned. (Independent, 31 October) Another political promise bites the dust. RD