The government is currently working on legislation to open up the eligibility of the Right To Buy scheme to allow housing association tenants to buy their home at a discount. Legislation would need to pass through the scrutiny of the House of Lords.
Speaking at the Chartered Institute of Housing annual conference in Manchester, Kerslake said there is ‘significant concern’ from peers, ‘of all parties and none’, about the plans.
He pointed out that the policy is a manifesto commitment from the Tories so opponents should work towards amending it rather than defeating it.
“A number of amendments have been discussed, including replacing the cash discount with an equity loan… or decoupling the local authority sales proposal from the discounts, allowing a much more sensible approach to that issue,” he said.
“In London the impact would be truly disastrous. It is set to take something like £5bn out of housing in the capital.”
Kerslake is a crossbench peer, appointed to the House of Lords on 17 March this year. He raised concerns about extending Right To Buy to housing association tenants in his maiden speech earlier this month.
