Thatcher's Right to Buy legacy: 40% of ex-council homes owned by private landlords

Nearly 40% of ex-council homes in the London borough of Wandsworth are now in the hands of private landlords, an investigation has revealed. 

Of 15,874 dwellings in council blocks in Wandsworth where tenants acquired the leasehold under Right to Buy, 6,180 are now owned by private landlords who rent them out to private tenants.

"It shows private businesses making vast profits from the public purse while the people these homes were built for sit on waiting lists that never move.

 "To add insult to injury many are using offshore tax havens to avoid paying tax on these profits. "These homes were built and designed to be rented by ordinary London families.

The investigation exposes Mrs Thatcher’s flagship policy of Right to Buy for individuals as nothing more than a charter for the exploitation of our social housing for private profit. Her plan to create a home owning democracy has turned into a “buy to let” bonanza.