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Government to scrap right-to-buy SNP plan to end housing 'crisis'
(about 4 hours later)
The right of council housing tenants in Scotland to buy new-build homes is to end, BBC Scotland understands. Plans to build a new generation of council houses and end the right of tenants to buy new-build homes have been announced by Scottish ministers.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is also expected to tell MSPs that a new generation of council houses will tackle Scotland's housing crisis. Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the current housing system was not meeting Scotland's needs.
A number of local authorities have already been given permission to suspend right to buy amid shortages. Ms Sturgeon was prevented from delivering the housing announcement in a statement to the Scottish Parliament.
Ms Sturgeon will say that the government intends to see new house building rise by almost 50%. Holyrood Presiding Officer Alex Ferguson made the ruling after details were obtained by the BBC in advance.
This would take the figure to 35,000 a year by 2015. In a series of proposals laid out by ministers, Scotland's councils, developers and builders have been challenged to increase new house building to at least 35,000 a year by 2015.
At the centre of the strategy will be the reversal of 30 years of "running down the role of local authorities", with new incentives to encourage the construction of a new generation of council houses. The current rate of new house building - 25,000 new houses a year is simply inadequate Nicola SturgeonDeputy first minister
Leak inquiry Local authorities would also be handed incentives to be landlords, such as funding for new council housing, in a bid to end the "30-year rundown" of the practice.
In a statement to the Scottish Parliament later, Ms Sturgeon is expected to unveil a range of measures aimed at assisting first time buyers, including government grants, while laying down a challenge to housing associations to improve their operations. And the right to buy would end on new social housing built by councils and housing associations, with an exception for existing tenants already eligible to buy their houses who are forced to move.
The right to buy new council and housing association homes will be removed. "It is a fact that the Scottish housing system is not meeting our needs as a country," said Ms Sturgeon.
She will also say that the government intends to press ahead with the controversial single survey plan for house sales, which was backed by the previous Labour/Lib Dem administration despite its low take-up during a pilot scheme. "The current rate of new house building - 25,000 new houses a year - is simply inadequate.
Meanwhile, Scotland's top civil servant, permanent secretary Sir John Elvidge, has been ordered to carry out a leak inquiry after the BBC reported in advance details of the statement. "It can and must increase if Scotland's housing requirements are to be met."
Ms Sturgeon has denied that ministers authorised a leak and is said to be "very angry and concerned" that key parts of the statement were made public before being delivered to parliament. The SNP administration also announced plans to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder, through a mix of government grants, shared equity schemes and mortgage-related products.
Ministers will also press ahead with the controversial single survey plan for house sales - which they said would save first-time buyers at least £200 - despite its low take-up during a pilot scheme under the previous Labour/Lib Dem administration.
In the Holyrood debating chamber, Ms Fergusson said he strongly objected to an advance leak of the statement, adding that it represented a "discourtesy to parliament".
Ms Sturgeon denied that ministers authorised a leak and is said to be "very angry and concerned" that key parts of the statement were made public before being delivered to parliament.