<P> The Labour Party initially proposed the idea of the right of tenants to own the house they live in, in their manifesto for the 1959 general election which they subsequently lost . Later, the Conservative - controlled Greater London Council (GLC) of the late 1960s was persuaded by Horace Cutler, its Chairman of Housing, to create a general sales scheme . Cutler disagreed with the concept of local authorities as providers of housing, and supported a free - market approach . GLC housing sales were not allowed during the Labour administration of the mid-1970s, but picked up again once Cutler became Leader in 1977 . They proved extremely popular . Cutler was close to Margaret Thatcher (MP for Finchley) who made the right to buy council housing a Conservative Party policy nationally . The policy was largely in place for the 1974 Conservative manifesto, but did not prove an asset in the two general elections that year because of high interest and mortgage repayment rates, as well as the growth of negative equity as house prices fell . </P> <P> In the meantime, council house sales to tenants began to increase . Some 7,000 were sold to their tenants during 1970; this soared to more than 45,000 in 1972 . </P> <P> After Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister in May 1979, the legislation to implement the Right to Buy was passed in the Housing Act 1980 . Michael Heseltine, in his role as Secretary of State for the Environment, was in charge of implementing the legislation . Some 6,000,000 people were affected; about one in three actually purchased their housing unit . Heseltine noted that "no single piece of legislation has enabled the transfer of so much capital wealth from the state to the people". He said the right to buy had two main objectives: to give people what they wanted, and to reverse the trend of ever - increasing dominance of the state over the life of the individual . </P> <P> He said: "There is in this country a deeply ingrained desire for home ownership . The Government believe that this spirit should be fostered . It reflects the wishes of the people, ensures the wide spread of wealth through society, encourages a personal desire to improve and modernise one's own home, enables parents to accrue wealth for their children and stimulates the attitudes of independence and self - reliance that are the bedrock of a free society ." </P>

When did right to buy council house start