PROPOSALS for the sale of high-value social housing could segregate Oxford’s council tenants, politicians have warned.
The right-wing Policy Exchange think tank has called for all council homes over their regional average value to be sold off to make cash to build new social housing.
A report written by former Tory adviser Alex Morton shows the average price of a home in the South East is £220,126, and suggests homes worth more should be sold.
But housing bosses in Oxford have warned the regional figures could mean a mass sell-off of the council’s housing stock because average prices in the city are higher than other parts of the region.
City board member for housing Scott Seamons said: “Given Oxford is amongst the top three least affordable places for housing in the country, and much more expensive than the rest of the region, it is likely that the point at which houses are considered expensive in the report would encompass large amounts of Oxford’s stock.
“The result would be a loss of mixed communities of housing in many parts of the city and potentially lead to more people having to live outside the city altogether, away from families and jobs.”
In the report, Mr Morton said: “We would argue that giving expensive social housing to a single lucky household is unfair to the more than 1.8 million households languishing on the waiting list.”
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