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Housing and Regeneration Bill

The right to buy will not help the 1.7 million families in this country who are in need of social housing to get housed. Indeed, it seems to have had the opposite effect, not least due to the policy consequences of the money accrued by local authorities that have participated in many right-to-buy schemes. I do not expect the Minister to reply to this point tonight, as it is beyond the scope of these amendments. I want to put on record, however, that the right to buy, however attractive it might seem, leaves a hole that can be filled only by innovative partnership projects involving local authorities, or by a significant investment of money that is far in excess of anything that the Government have so far offered to achieve that goal.