{"id":2981,"date":"2025-08-06T09:00:01","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T09:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/?p=2981"},"modified":"2025-08-08T15:12:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T15:12:21","slug":"stirling-prize-winning-council-homes-sold-off-at-a-discount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/2025\/08\/06\/stirling-prize-winning-council-homes-sold-off-at-a-discount\/","title":{"rendered":"Stirling Prize-winning council homes sold off at a discount"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Goldsmith<\/div>\n

Stirling Prize<\/a>-winning council homes<\/a> on Norwich’s Goldsmith Street<\/a> were sold for less than the average local house price under a controversial UK Government policy only five years after they were built, Dezeen can reveal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two homes in the Goldsmith Street development, designed by London architecture studio Mikhail Riches<\/a> and Cathy Hawley<\/a> for Norwich City Council and completed in 2019, were sold last summer under the Right to Buy policy.<\/p>\n

Each was sold for around \u00a3215,424 \u2013 less than the average Norwich house price<\/a> of \u00a3228,000 \u2013 thanks to taxpayer-funded discounts worth tens of thousands of pounds.<\/p>\n

\"Goldsmith
Goldsmith Street is the only social housing project to have ever won the Stirling Prize<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the homes was sold at a discount of \u00a324,576, the other \u00a329,576.<\/p>\n

Details of the sales have come to light following a Freedom of Information Act request submitted to the council by Dezeen.<\/p>\n

The Right to Buy policy allows council tenants to purchase their homes at a significant discount. It was first introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1980, and has since seen more than two million council homes in England sold off.<\/p>\n

The policy is highly contentious. Its supporters argue that it provides a route into home ownership for people who would otherwise not be able to afford it, while critics say it has eroded Britain’s much-needed social housing stock.<\/p>\n

Government planning Right to Buy changes<\/strong><\/p>\n

A recent report from left-wing thinktank Common Wealth<\/a> claimed that the Right to Buy has cost UK taxpayers nearly \u00a3200 billion.<\/p>\n

Last month, ministers announced plans<\/a> to legislate to protect newly built council homes in England from being sold under the Right to Buy for 35 years, increase the time tenants must have lived in their homes before being eligible from three years to 10, and significantly reduce the discounts available.<\/p>\n

Devolved governments in Scotland and Wales have already abolished the Right to Buy policy entirely.<\/p>\n