Camden Council saw a significant surge in Right to Buy (RTB) applications ahead of a legislative change that capped the discount available to tenants. Many tenants submitted applications to preserve the higher discount but are unlikely to proceed after considering affordability.

According to a report presented at the Housing Scrutiny Committee meeting on Monday 15 September 20251, the national RTB legislation was amended on 22 November 2024, reducing the discount cap from £136,400 to £16,000. This prompted a rush of applications in the period leading up to the change.

The report stated that the average number of RTB applications received annually between 2019 and 2022 was 181. However, between 1 April 2024 and 22 November 2024, the council received 777 applications.

Camden has ensured all 777 cases are at least at initial assessment stage, placing the borough ahead of many others in processing capacity. With applications now at historically low levels, the demand in this area will reduce freeing resources and limiting future stock loss.

While the council could potentially lose 4% of its housing stock if all 777 applications were completed, historical data indicates that only 14.7% of applications since 2015 have resulted in a sale. As of August 2025, only three sales had been completed from the 777 applications received before the cap deadline. 175 applications have been closed without a sale, leaving 599 live cases.

From 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, the Housing Investigations Team (HIT) recovered 70 properties, equating to an estimated £4.62m value saved.

  1. The full report is available on the Camden Council website: Public reports pack 15th-Sep-2025 18.30 Housing Scrutiny Committee ↩