117 council homes brought back into public ownership through Right to Buy-back programme

Lewisham Council has successfully purchased more than 110 former council properties previously lost through Right to Buy, in order to house families on its housing waiting list.

Since February 2022, 117 properties have been bought as part of Lewisham’s Right to Buy-back programme. These are being let to local families on the housing register, providing them with a safe, secure and permanent home.

Plans for a Right to Buy-back programme in Lewisham were announced in late 2021, using funding from the Mayor of London to bring properties back into public ownership. Having originally secured funding to purchase 100 properties, a successful bid for additional funding from the Mayor of London has enabled Lewisham Council to expand the programme and exceed the original target.

Under national Right to Buy legislation, council tenants have had the right to buy their home at a substantially discounted price since the 1980s. This has resulted in a significant loss of council homes over the last four decades, with local authorities unable to build or purchase new homes at the same rate that they have been lost through Right to Buy. With over 10,000 families on Lewisham’s housing register, purchasing ex-council homes is a quick and effective way of increasing the supply of social housing.

As well as bringing these properties back into public ownership, the Council is continuing to deliver new social homes through its Building for Lewisham house-building programme and by pushing private developers to build more social housing.

Damien Egan, Mayor of Lewisham, said: “Through this funding from Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, we’ve been able to buy 117 former council homes and use them as they were intended to be used - to provide long-term family homes for Lewisham residents.”