Stirling Prize-winning council homes sold off at a discount

Stirling Prize-winning council homes on Norwich's Goldsmith Street 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.

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

Each was sold for around £215,424 – less than the average Norwich house price of £228,000 – thanks to taxpayer-funded discounts worth tens of thousands of pounds.

One of the homes was sold at a discount of £24,576, the other £29,576.

Details of the sales have come to light following a Freedom of Information Act request submitted to the council by Dezeen.

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.

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.

Government planning Right to Buy changes

A recent report from left-wing thinktank Common Wealth claimed that the Right to Buy has cost UK taxpayers nearly £200 billion.

Last month, ministers announced plans 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.

Devolved governments in Scotland and Wales have already abolished the Right to Buy policy entirely.

But more homes on Goldsmith Street are likely to be sold before the new rules come into effect, with another five Right to Buy applications currently in progress.

There are 105 homes in the Goldsmith Street development, all built to Passivhaus standards, with energy bills reportedly 70 per cent cheaper than the average UK household as a result.

It is the only social-housing scheme to win the Stirling Prize for the UK's best new building in the competition's 27-year history, and was selected by Dezeen as the most significant building completed in 2019 for our 21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildings series.

However, Goldsmith Street is not the only recently completed award-winning council housing scheme affected by the Right to Buy.

In Newham, east London, two Right to Buy applications are underway for homes at McGrath Road, designed by Peter Barber Architects. Also completed in 2019, McGrath Road won the Neave Brown Award for Housing in 2021.

Norwich City Council and the UK Government have been approached for comment. Mikhail Riches did not wish to comment.

Last year, Dezeen's Social Housing Revival series explored the new wave of quality social housing being built around the world.

The photography is by Tim Crocker.

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