Labour drops Right to Buy plans

Labour has dropped its plans to allow private tenants to buy their homes at a discount.

Press reports over the weekend indicated that the policy was now regarded as too complicated to be included in the party's manifesto for the December 12 General Election.

Two months ago Chancellor John McDonnell told the Financial Times that under a future Labour government discounts could be made available to tenants - just like the old Thatcher Right To Buy policy for council house renters - that would allow purchases by private tenants to be made at below market value; the policy, at that time, was proposed to apply to all private tenants and landlords.

Then two weeks ago McDonnell told The Times he had re-thought the original proposal and it should apply only to the wealthiest landlords and not those who only own "one or two" rental properties.

"There's a large number of individuals or families who have bought another property as their asset for the future and we wouldn't want to endanger that" he told The Times in early November.

Now it appears the policy has been ditched completely.