The Minister for Housing and Local Government (Grant Shapps): On 2 April we increased the maximum discount cap for tenants to £75,000 across England. I encourage hon. Members to help publicise the Right to Buy to their hard working council tenants and particularly recommend tweeting and ‘liking’ the page: www.facebook.com/righttobuy
Graham Evans: The last Government shamefully ran down the right-to-buy discount. Does the Minister agree that that acted as a brake on the aspirations of those who wished to join what we Conservatives call the great British property-owning democracy?
Grant Shapps: My hon. Friend is absolutely correct. The right to buy, which enabled 2 million hard-working families to buy their own properties, was disgracefully run down, so that only 3,000 a year could take advantage of it under the last Administration. The right to buy is back, however: there is a £75,000 discount, and for every home that is sold another is built. That is the way in which to meet hard-working families’ aspirations in this country.