DOZENS of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council houses were sold through Right to Buy over a nine-year period, figures show.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government figures also show Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council collected £7.1 million through the scheme over this time.

Figures from the MHCLG show 54 council homes were privatised through the Right to Buy scheme in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole between 2012-13 and 2020-21.

Councils are expected to replace these homes on a one-for-one basis, and 55 replacements were acquired or began construction in the area over this period.

Prime minister Boris Johnson recently announced the 2.5 million tenants renting their homes from housing associations will be given the right to buy them outright under plans to extend the policy.

But critics say it risks further reducing social housing stock, with housing charity Shelter describing the plan as "reckless".

Right to Buy was introduced in 1980 to help council and housing association tenants buy their home, at a discount of up to £87,200 outside London.

Mr Johnson sought to move on from the recent confidence vote and Partygate scandal with a major policy speech in Blackpool, which focussed on how the Government will address the cost-of-living crisis.

In it, he said ministers would seek to ease the pain of soaring interest rates by working to “finish the right-to-own reforms Margaret Thatcher began in the 1980s” and extending the Right to Buy scheme to those “trapped” in their housing association homes.

He criticised some associations for showing “scandalous indifference” to tenants and pledged a one-for-one replacement of each property sold to prevent the housing stock dwindling in an attempt to address the major criticism of his Tory predecessor’s policy.

Alicia Walker, head of policy, research and campaigns at homeless charity Centrepoint, said:"Extending the Right to Buy to housing associations risks further eroding the stock of social housing, which many young people desperately need.

"Promises of like-for-like replacements have been made before but not been followed through.”

Across England, 96,100 homes have been sold through Right to Buy since 2012-13, with just 32,900 replacement houses acquired or started.