Labour faces costs of £50bn to replenish affordable housing after right to buy, report says

Margaret Thatcher's 1980s policy turbocharged the sale of council homes, contributing to worst housing crisis in living memory'

Margaret Thatcher's right-to-buy scheme has left Britain with the legacy of a social housing shortfall that would cost the government 50bn to return the number of affordable homes back to 2010 levels.

In a report issued as Labour pushes to reform the Conservative policy introduced in the 1980s, the Resolution Foundation said Keir Starmer's government faced a huge task to replenish the UK's affordable housing stock.