This led to a rush of tenants applying to buy before the rules changed on November 21st.
Rotherham City Council received around 10 times more applications in November than in a normal month.
James Clarke, deputy chief executive officer for housing, said: “Following the Government's announcement, the council has received 336 new Right to Buy applications.”
“Compared to a normal month, we expect to receive applications from 30 to 40 tenants.”
Sheffield City Council has announced that it has received around 2,000 applications since the Budget on October 30th. Normally, we would only receive 800 applications a year.
Barnsley City Council normally processes around 23 applications each month, but between October 30 and November 21 it received 266 applications.
St Leger Homes, which oversees council housing in Doncaster, said it usually receives up to six applications a week.
In the three weeks following the Budget, the St Leger received 359 applications. This is approximately 120 per week.
Councilor Shafaq Mohammed, leader of the Sheffield Liberal Democrats, said the council was struggling to provide for council land because so much of it was being sold off.
“We have plans to increase our council housing stock by 887 units by 2030, but we will not be able to recover the number of properties we expect to lose,” he said.
“Local authorities should be given the power to abolish right to buy in their areas.”
The government changed the rules, saying too many council homes were being sold off before being replaced, creating the “worst housing crisis in living memory”.
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