Rubbish Check
Daily Mail Money · 6 August 2026
source“Council homes bought under Right to Buy surged 90% in a year after Labour changed the rules”
R2/ 10
Lightly altered
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
12345678910
In short
Rubbish Talk rates the Daily Mail's claim that Right to Buy sales "surged 90% in a year after Labour changed the rules" a 2/10, because the 90% jump to 14,275 sales and the causal link to Labour's November 2024 discount cut are both accurate, though the headline omits that this was a one-off deadline rush rather than a sustained demand shift.
The Verdict
Lightly altered. The headline states the real figure (a 90% rise to 14,275 sales) and correctly attributes it to Labour's rule change, which the article itself confirms triggered the surge. It loses a point only for not flagging that this is a deadline-driven spike from a pipeline of pre-cutoff applications, not proof of rising ongoing demand, and for leaving the replacement-housing shortfall out of the headline entirely.
What actually happened
Local authority data showed 14,275 council homes were sold under Right to Buy in England in 2025-26, up 90% on the prior year. The surge stems from a rush of applications filed before Labour's November 2024 deadline, after which maximum discounts were sharply cut; long completion times meant many of those pre-cutoff buyers only finished their purchases in 2025-26.
Key facts
- 14,275 council homes sold under Right to Buy in 2025-26, up 90% versus 2024-25.
- Discounts were capped from November 21, 2024: previously up to £136,400 in London / £102,400 outside London; now as low as £16,000 in some areas like West Berkshire.
- Local authorities received £1.61billion from sales, up 99.6% year-on-year; average receipt per home rose 5% to £112,900.
- Only 3,452 replacement homes were funded via Right to Buy receipts in 2025-26, a 7% fall on the prior year and well short of the 14,275 sold.
- 1.3 million households are on local authority housing waiting lists, the highest since 2014, per the Resolution Foundation.
What to watch for
Further reforms under the Social Housing Bill (raising the qualifying tenancy period from 3 to 10 years, a 35-year protection for new social homes) could trigger another application rush before its expected September third reading, echoing the 2024 pattern. Watch whether next year's sales figures fall back sharply once the pre-cutoff pipeline clears, and whether replacement-build numbers close the gap with sales.
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.
