[MovedGoalPosts]

The chances of Right to Buy causing house price inflation is ludicrous. For a start the Right to Buy purchaser is normally required to stay in that property for a number of years after purchase. Theoretically there are also advantages to a local authority, that is cash strapped, because they are no longer responsible for maintenance of the property, whcih the rentals never really covered because of the way rent was collected and reallocated. The downside though is many of the right to buyers didn't understand mortgages and their new responsibilities and some of those risk getting reposessed and put bakc into the local authorities housing need.

The biggest issue for most areas is not right to buy, but there are an inadequate number of properties being built, of the right type. There have been all sorts of "affordable" housing measures" but rarely to these provide a good number of family sized homes. Most are one and two bedroom flats rather than three and four bed houses. Most affordable housing is still private, being sold on discount mortage and related schemes, which aren't suited for those in unstable employment circumstances. A right to buy thus needs to be matched by a proper local authority / housing association build programme.

Oh and is some price inflation in the private housing sector a bad thing? I'm not saying the rampant rises we saw in the midst of the last decade before the 2007 slump, or even that whcih we saw in the late 1980s. But without some price growth, given the costs of selling and buying a house with agent's fees, stamp duty, solicitors, mortgage fees, etc, unless the price is going up people loose too much money. We now have a situation where the private home owner in many areas simply cannot afford to move as they can't afford the expense, so even if they want to move for a job, they are stuck.