Councils beg to be left off right-to-buy restriction list

Plans announced last week to slash right-to-buy discounts in 42 property hotspots have wreaked havoc as councils lobby to be included or excluded from the list.

The plan will see discounts cut from a maximum of £38,000 to £16,000 in 42 areas, mainly in London and the South-east.

But council opposition could force deputy prime minister John Prescott into the embarrassing position of coercing councils into restricting tenants' discounts.

So far three councils – the London boroughs of Wandsworth and Westminster, plus Spelthorne in Surrey – have signalled they intend to seek an exemption from the changes.

Michael Brahams, Westminster council's cabinet member for housing, said he opposed cutting the discount because the right to buy kept the London borough's social mix healthy.

The three are preparing their arguments for exemption ahead of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's appeal deadline of 5 February.

But housing commentators have warned that if some councils are allowed to opt out and give larger discounts, neighbouring authorities will come under extreme pressure from their own tenants to seek similar exemptions.

Gwyneth Taylor, programme manager at the Local Government Association, said such exemptions would create "an absurd situation where tenants living on opposite sides of a road could be entitled to different discounts".

Meanwhile, Greenwich council in south-east London has demanded an explanation from Prescott of why it was left off the list.