Rayner suggests tenants will not be able to buy new council homes

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

The policy was initially credited with increasing rates of home ownership, but more recently has been blamed for contributing to the rise in homelessness.

Labour has pledged to build the largest number of social and council homes since World War Two. Ms Rayner told the BBC that she doesn’t want those newly built properties “leaving the system”.

“We’ll be putting restrictions on them so that we aren’t losing those homes… we’re not losing that stock.”

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

Right to Buy was relaunched in 2012 by the Conservative-led coalition government, which increased the discount a tenant could receive when buying their home.

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

Since coming to office, Labour has said the discount will be reduced to between £16,000 and £38,000, depending on location. Last month’s Budget also saw measures allowing local authorities to keep all the money they receive from council house sales, a policy the last Conservative government also followed for two years until March 2024.

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

Right to Buy was ended in Scotland in 2016, and in 2019 the Welsh government stopped the policy.