John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing and Planning Minister, responding to new government statistics showing just one home is being built or acquired to replace every eight homes sold under right to buy said:

“Tory Ministers have repeatedly promised that every home sold under right to buy will be replaced one-for-one, but these figures show that they are failing by a huge margin. Only one home is being built for every eight sold.

“Now Ministers are hoping to persuade Parliament to vote for the forced sale of council homes to fund a right-to-buy for housing association tenants by making the exactly the same promise. It’s simply not credible.

“The truth is government decisions are leading to a huge loss of genuinely affordable homes to rent and buy at a time when they’ve never been needed more.

“After six years of failure across the board on housing, from falling home-ownership to rising homelessness, Labour will be leading the fight for a long-term housing plan that includes good new homes of all types.”