Housing associations in London have been slammed as figures show more than 150,000 social homes have been lost since 2012.
According to figures seen by the Guardian, associations have made at least £82.3m from auctioning homes in five London boroughs since 2013.
Analysis from Karen Buck, Labour MP for Westminster North, found that Brent, Camden, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Kensington and Chelsea housing associations sold 153 properties at auction through Savills estate agents – with more than half in Westminster totalling £36.4m in sales.
The auctions point towards a wider trend of some housing associations selling off social homes in expensive central London to fund new private developments.
Buck said: “I’m dealing with a family who are statutorily overcrowded and in the highest medical priority and I haven’t been able to get them moved in over eight years. That’s because housing associations [in general] say they don’t have the stock in the area and yet they’re still selling off homes.”
Tripled
Across the UK, sales of housing association social homes to the private sector have more than tripled since 2001, with 3,891 social homes sold in 2016.