London councils have sold 23,000 homes through Right to Buy in the past decade, new analysis shows

Meanwhile, Southwark came out on top in the amount of receipts that RTB has generated in the period, as it collected £254.5m, the analysis showed. 

Next was Greenwich, whose receipts from RTB were £223.6m, the figures showed. 

Marc von Grundherr, director at Benham & Reeves, said: “Right to Buy may have been an incredibly successful initiative when it comes to giving council tenants the ability to climb the ladder and many have seized the opportunity to do so in the last 10 years.

“Of course, in doing so these local authorities have essentially shot themselves in the foot, as it severely reduces the social housing stock available to them to satisfy the huge demand from those who are still in desperate need of it.”

However there has been a significant renaissance in council housebuilding activity in recent years, particularly in the capital.

In May the London mayor’s office reported that work started on 4,946 City Hall-backed council homes in the 2021-22 financial year. This was the highest figure for starts since 1979, according to Sadiq Khan’s office. 

And earlier this month Mr Khan’s office reported that 1,577 homes have returned to council ownership through London’s Right to Buy-back scheme, since its launch in July last year.

In addition Right to Buy sales have been slowing down. Transactions through the scheme fell 35 per cent to 6,850 in 2020/21 - the lowest yearly figure in eight years - figures published last November showed. 

In June Boris Johnson announced plans to extend RTB to housing association tenants. However the pledge came prior to Mr Johnson’s announcement to step down as prime minister, leaving it unclear whether it will become a reality.