More than a third of Right to Buy homes in Croydon are now being privately rented, it has been revealed.

A total of 882 homes sold through Right to Buy are privately rented. That’s   36% of all those sold.

And what’s more, there are four landlords who own five or more of these homes.

The statistics come from a report from Labour London Assembly Member Tom Copley called Right to Buy: Wrong for London.

It also revealed that Croydon Council has had to buy back 57 homes sold through Right to Buy. The council would not reveal how much this had cost.

Deputy council leader and cabinet member for homes Cllr Alison Butler thinks that the scheme should be suspended in London.

Right to Buy was introduced in 1980 and means council tenants can buy their home at a discount.

This can be a maximum of 70% off the value of the home, and the discount is capped in London at £108,000. The scheme has been abolished in Scotland and Wales.

Cllr Butler said: “We believe that Right to Buy in Croydon should be suspended.

“In an area of high housing need, it makes no sense to be selling off our housing stock.

“A large amount of these homes end up being rented out at much higher prices.”

In the last five years, 73 new social rent homes have been built in Croydon, but 566 have been sold through Right to Buy.

And with more than 2,000 families in the borough in temporary accommodation, that’s just a drop in the ocean.

One way the council is trying to combat this, says Cllr Butler, is the  Croydon Affordable Homes scheme which was unveiled last year.

The council has bought 250 flats and houses to be rented out, costing a maximum 65% of the usual private rent to borough residents.

Cllr Butler added: “A number of these have been Right to Buy which were being offered at largely inflated prices.

“Housing need is growing and we are trying to get families in temporary accommodation into decent homes with security for their future.

“As a council, we call for a change in areas of high housing need.”