The council is buying back properties previously sold under the Right to Buy scheme at a rate of more than one a week.

In the last year Brighton and Hove City Council has bought 62 homes with no signs of slowing down as a further 11 have already been purchased since 1 April this year and more purchases are in the works.

This news comes less than two weeks after protests outside Brighton Town Hall by members of the Living Rent Campaign, an activist group that calls for improved rent controls, the expansion of council housing and an end to the right to buy scheme.

The Right To Buy Scheme was first introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government in 1980, which passed legislation enabling many local authority tenants to buy their home at a discounted rate. Introducing the Housing Act 1980 which gave the tenants of over 5 million local authority houses in England and Wales the right to purchase their home.

The scheme previously saw large quantities of housing taken out of the council’s ownership. However, they are seeking to increase their supply of council-rented homes to help residents most-impacted by the cost-of-living crisis.

The city council has now purchased more than 350 homes since 2017. Once they have purchased a home, it is made available to residents most in-need of housing or currently on our housing register.

Councillor Gill Williams, cabinet member for Housing and New Homes, said: “Making sure people have access to secure and affordable homes is one of our priorities as a council and our Homes Purchase Policy is an important tool in helping us do just that.

“I am delighted we’re returning so many homes to the council’s supply and ultimately putting ourselves in a position where we can help provide much-needed security to more people and more families who are desperate for an affordable place to build a home.”

Residents can find out more about how they can sell their home back to the council by visiting: Sell your property back to the council (brighton-hove.gov.uk).