Margaret Thatcher’s flagship 1980s housing policy “Right to Buy” has been “abused” and requires urgent reform, a damning report has warned. The discount scheme has allowed council tenants to buy their homes for as little as £15,000 since it came into force in 1980. Discounts are capped at 70pc, or £100,000 in London – having last increased in 2014 under former prime minister and current Foreign Secretary David Cameron. However, a report by The Housing Forum, a body of local authorities, housing associations and housebuilders, has urged the Government to drastically cut the maximum discount. It said Right to Buy has taken away council accommodation, while some buyers are purchasing homes and then placing them straight onto the private rental market. In the last financial year, 10,896 homes were sold through Right to Buy and only 3,447 were replaced – resulting in a net loss of 7,449. In more recent years, the scheme has been extended voluntarily to housing associations that let out social homes. Since 1991, the scheme has resulted in a net loss of 24,000 social homes. The Housing Forum report reveals that local authorities – the majority now cash-strapped with huge housing wait lists – are swallowing...