WILTSHIRE Council is replacing fewer homes than are sold through the government’s Right to Buy scheme, figures suggest.

According to data from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 26 council houses were privatised through Right to Buy in 2019 – eight fewer than were sold in 2018.

Councils are expected to replace Right to Buy homes on a one-for-one basis, but can only use 30 per cent of the receipts from properties sold to cover the cost of replacements.

In 2019, Wiltshire Council acquired or began construction on three replacement homes for those sold previously.

Cllr Richard Clewer, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “In the 2019/2020 financial year, our Right to Buy receipts part funded the completion of 12 affordable homes, including both newbuilds and acquisitions, making a total of 198 additional affordable homes built or acquired using £3.7m of retained Right to Buy receipts to date.

“We are currently scheduled to build or acquire 13 affordable homes in 2020/2021, partly funded with Right to Buy receipts, with a further 18 currently planned to follow in the future, as part of our commitment to build or buy 1,000 homes over the next 10 years.

“We have also implemented a range of other schemes, including our council house programme and community-led housing schemes, to increase the number of affordable homes in Wiltshire in the coming years.”

Under Right to Buy, councils are expected to replace houses on a one-for-one basis, however, they can only use 30 per cent of the funds from properties sold to cover the replacements.

The Local Government Association says councils should be given more power to build new homes in the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

David Renard, the Local Government Association’s housing spokesman, says the government needs to take action to ensure work on affordable homes can continue as planned after the coronavirus pandemic, with less restriction on how councils can use proceeds from Right to Buy sales.

He added: “We are calling for a temporary extension of the time given to commence planning permissions that would otherwise lapse over the coming weeks.

“This would enable construction activity to deliver new homes to start again quickly, when it is safe to do so, without the need to potentially have to start the planning process again.

“The Government should also urgently extend the time limit for spending Right to Buy receipts from three years to five years, to ensure that many planned council housing projects that are currently on hold can continue to go ahead at the appropriate time.

“As part of the country’s recovery from coronavirus, to deliver the housing the country needs the government should give councils the powers to build homes again and reform Right to Buy so councils can keep receipts in full to invest in new housing, and set discounts locally.”

An MHCLG spokesman said Right to Buy has helped more than 121,000 people get on the property ladder nationally since 2010.

They said: “We’ve given councils the freedom to be able to build more social homes through abolishing the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap.

“We’re working to get more people on the housing ladder, investing £12.2 billion next year alone to build many more affordable homes across England.”