Flintshire council votes to buy back ex-council houses

Video caption, Matthew Richards reports on Flintshire council deciding to buy back council houses

Flintshire council has agreed proposals to buy back former council houses.

A council said the move was needed due to a growing shortage of affordable homes in the county.

In November, Flintshire council voted to prevent its social housing tenants from having the right to buy their homes.

It is also planning to build about 200 new council homes over the next five years.

Since January 2005, all council homes sold in Flintshire under the Right to Buy scheme have had covenants placed on them to ensure that the council had the option to buy them back if they came up to sale and before going on to the open market.

A total of 55 properties have been sold under the scheme at an average price of 拢80,080 since April 2010.

Council leader Aaron Shotton said the decision was the next "logical step" when it came to addressing the shortage of affordable housing in the county.

"This will provide more affordable housing for the residents of Flintshire and provide income to the council by way of rent," he said.