Councillors agree on proposals to buy back former Flintshire council houses.

Flintshire County Council will become the first local authority in Wales with plans to start buying back council homes.

Councillors agreed at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday on proposals which will see the introduction of a new policy to buy back former council homes previously sold under the Right to Buy (RTB) scheme.

Changes came into force in 2005 under the scheme which meant any ex council homes being put up for sale by owners have to be offered to the council on a first refusal basis for up to 10 years from the date of purchase.

Since this change covenants have been placed on all properties sold to ensure that the council has the option to buy back properties sold that have been subject to future sale.

Should the council not wish to purchase a house it can then be sold on the open market.

To date, the council has chosen not to take up the option of purchasing any previously owned properties.

Since April 2010, 55 properties have been sold under the scheme at an average price of £80,080.

The council will also be free to purchase any property for sale on the open market, should it meet the council’s policy.

Councillor Aaron Shotton, Leader of the Council, said:

“It is well known that there is a shortage of affordable housing across the UK. Flintshire County Council’s strategy to build new council homes, the first in a generation, fits well with our proposal to suspend the Right to Buy scheme.

A further step to provide more affordable housing would be to bring houses which were previously council owned back into our housing stock.

This will provide more affordable housing for the residents of Flintshire and provide income to the Council by way of rent.”

This situation would only arise if the current owner decided to sell.

Each property would be considered on a case by case basis, a major factor of which would be the identification of available funds in the business plan.