Thatcher’s right to buy policy is celebrated but here’s the cost: losses to us all of £194bn and a fractured society | David Madden

A new report details the damage. This was an ideological ploy from which we have yet to recoverThe housing problem in the UK has become so pervasive that it can sometimes seem natural and eternal, the ever-present background to British life. But it’s important to remember that specific political projects and policy choices brought about the housing crisis – and continue to maintain it.A new report from the thinktank Common Wealth tallies up some of the continuing costs of one of the culprits: the right to buy, Margaret Thatcher’s signature social policy. It demonstrates that the right to buy has amounted to a massive giveaway of public resources, and one of the largest privatisations in British history.David Madden is associate professor of sociology and director of the Cities programme at the London School of Economics Continue reading...

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