Labour Right to Buy changes welcomed by Jayne Kirkham MP

Labour’s new changes to the Right to Buy scheme will limit tenants’ eligibility and reduce purchase discounts in a bid to protect the future of social housing.

Jayne Kirkham, MP for Truro and Falmouth, has welcomed the plans and highlighted their importance for Cornwall, where a shortfall of council homes has left many families in need.

Ms Kirkham said: "Right to Buy was introduced by Margaret Thatcher.

"It has led to the sell-off of huge numbers of council homes without proper replacement, leaving Cornwall short of genuinely affordable housing for local families who really need it."

She added: "Council homes, sold cheaply under successive Conservative governments, have ended up in some cases rented out for holiday lets."

Jayne Kirkham has welcomed the new Right to Buy reforms (Image: supplied)

Announced on April 28 by the Labour Government, the reforms target the long-standing mismatch between social homes sold and those replaced.

Tenants will now need to live in council housing for at least ten years before they are eligible to buy, and maximum discounts will be reduced to between £16,000 and £38,000.

The scheme currently starts with discounts of 35 to 50 per cent, but these will be cut to just 5 per cent.

Covenants on former council homes are designed to prevent their use as holiday or student lets and require a local connection.

Ms Kirkham has seen the impact first-hand during her time as a councillor.

She said: "I regularly saw former council homes being used as holiday lets, or short-term Airbnb rentals, despite being built for families and often having covenants intended to prevent this kind of misuse."

The Government also confirmed that newly built social homes in England will be exempt from Right to Buy for 35 years and that councils will retain 100 per cent of sales receipts.

This funding can be combined with grants to build or buy replacement homes.

Under separate Renters’ Rights legislation, councils will be given stronger enforcement powers, supported by £60 million nationally.

Cornwall Council will receive £403,306 to improve enforcement, including on covenant breaches.

Ms Kirkham said: "With the highest number of short-term lets in the country after London, we urgently need more social houses for local families, not fewer."