PLANS which would see the Right to Buy policy scrapped in Wales have been met with a mixed reaction.

AMs debated the proposal, which was among Labour’s manifesto commitments ahead of last year’s Assembly Election, in the Senedd today.

The Right to Buy policy was introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government in 1980 and allows social housing tenants to buy the houses they live in at a discount depending upon how long they have lived there.

But the Welsh Government has said it has led to a massive decrease in the availability of social housing, with stock reportedly decreasing by 45 per cent since 1981, and has introduced a bill to scrap the policy.

Introducing the bill, communities and children secretary Carl Sargeant said: “It aims to protect the supply of social housing from further erosion.”

He added: “The bill will encourage social landlords to invest in new social housing safe in the knowledge it won’t be sold a few years down the line.”

Newport East AM John Griffiths welcomed the plan, saying: “There is such a high demand for social housing - some social housing providers could sell their properties many times over.

“It will make sure existing and new social housing can be maintained for its intended use.”

The Welsh Government has also committed to build 20,000 new affordable homes during the current Assembly term.

But Conservative South Wales Central AM David Melding said if this target was met Wales would still have a housing shortfall of 66,000 by 2031.

“We need to build more homes,” he said. “Many more homes.

“That is the only way to deal with the housing crisis.

“Demand for housing has outstripped supply in Wales as in the UK for many years.”

He added he did not think scrapping the policy was the correct way forward.

“It will remove a vital opportunity for social housing tenants to become homeowners,” he said.

“It has been a massively popular policy, perhaps the most popular of the 20th century.”

His party colleague Mark Isherwood, who represents North Wales, also blasted the plan, calling it “a sick joke” and “Labour’s great housing betrayal”.

And leader of the Assembly’s Ukip group Neil Hamilton also criticised the proposal, calling it “curiously regressive”.

“This has been a greatly liberating policy over the years for hundreds of thousands of people,” he said.

But Plaid Cymru Arfon AM Sian Gwenllian backed the plan, saying: “It’s about time this happened.”

And Islwyn AM Rhianon Passmore called it “common sense”.

If the proposal gets the go-ahead current tenants will have at least one year to buy homes under the current rules.

Since the policy was introduced 139,000 social housing tenants have bought their homes.

A consultation into the plan will be launched tomorrow.

To take part visit consultations.gov.wales