John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing and Planning, responding to a new report by the Public Accounts Committee criticising the Government’s plans to force the sale of council homes to fund the extension of the right to buy, said:

“The Government’s mass forced sale of council homes to pay for new right to buy discounts will mean the loss of thousands of affordable homes at a time when they have never been needed more. Many will be bought up by overseas investors and buy-to-let landlords.

“This damning report from the cross-party Public Accounts Committee exposes the chaos behind these extreme plans.

“The PAC rightly challenges the value-for-money of government decisions. They say that Ministers have made no proper assessment of the impact of these plans, and cannot even show that their sums add up.

“Parliament should not be asked to accept this part of the Housing and Planning Bill, without MPs and Peers knowing what they are voting for.

“Ministers must now pause this part of the legislation until they are able to give Parliament some answers.”