Housing Act 1980 - The Act

The Act

The Act came under Michael Heseltine's remit as he was Environment Secretary at the time. On proposing the Bill to Parliament in 1979 Heseltine said it "lays the foundations for one of the most important social revolutions of this century". Gerald Kaufman, then in the Labour Party Shadow Cabinet and a former Environment Minister himself, said the Act would "not provide a single new home and deprive many homeless people or families living in tower blocks from getting suitable accommodation". The Labour Party was vehemently opposed to the Act but by the general election of 1987 had dropped its opposition to the Right to Buy.

The Act allowed tenants who had lived in their homes for at least three years to buy at 33% discount of the market price and 44% for a flat. If one was a tenant for over 20 years they got a 50% discount. Those not allowed to buy were tenants of charitable housing associations.

However many of the houses sold were built in the 1950s and 1960s, they were of poor quality and are today referred to as Non Traditional Housing, many had serious structural defects and were designated defective, the passing of the Housing Defects Act 1984 was required to allow for grants to be given to unsuspecting buyers, and to implement a cut off date for the issue of such grants.

As a result of increased building costs a further act was passed Housing defects Act 1988 to limit the amount of money payable, and move some types of Non Traditional Housing into different categories, for different levels of grant.

Mortgage-interest tax relief was also in operation and the Act provided the right to a mortgage from the local authority. The Act introduced the concept known as a 'secure tenancy' which restricted local authorities power to recover possession from their tenants. The Secretary of State had reserve powers to intervene with local authorities if they did not comply with the Act.

The Act also gave those who paid a £100 deposit the right to buy their home at a fixed price in a period of two years after paying the deposit. If the tenant was to sell the home they bought under the Act within five years of purchasing it they would have to share the capital gain between themselves and the local authority.