Right to Buy: Shelter Scotland Factsheet

The Right to Buy (RTB) was initially established in 1980 to give public sector tenants the opportunity to purchase their houses at discounted rates.

Almost half a million homes across social sector stock have been lost since legislation came into force in 1980 and the issue has become increasingly contentious.

Shelter Scotland has long argued that RTB policy has undermined progressive housing policy.
In July 2013, the Scottish Government announced that Right to Buy would end. Social housing tenants will have three years to exercise their RTB following royal assent of the coming Housing Bill, expected to be in Autumn 2014.