Right to Buy was introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government in 1980. Since then, more than two million homes have been sold.

This policy was initially credited with increasing homeownership rates, but more recently it has been blamed for contributing to increased homelessness.

Labor has pledged to build the largest number of council and social housing units since the Second World War. Ms Rayner told the BBC she did not want these newly built properties to “leave the system”.

“We’re going to put restrictions on them so we don’t lose these homes…we don’t lose this stock. »

Ministers will launch a consultation on the issue later this year.

Right to Buy was revived in 2012 by the Conservative-led coalition government, increasing the discount a renter could receive when purchasing their home.

It currently stands at £102,400 across England, except in London where it stands at £136,400.

Since coming to power, Labor has said the cut would be reduced to between £16,000 and £38,000, depending on location. Last month’s budget also included measures to allow local authorities to keep all the money they receive from social housing sales, a policy the last Conservative government also followed for two years, until March 2024.

Previously, they had to pay a proportion of each sale to the Treasury.

Right to Buy ended in Scotland in 2016, and in 2019 the Welsh Government ended the policy.