Council bid to stop right to buy

The local authority has applied for pressured area status

Council tenants in Moodiesburn and Cumbernauld may have the right to buy their homes suspended due to a lack of affordable housing in the area.

North Lanarkshire Council has applied to the Scottish Government for pressured area status.

If approved, tenants who moved into their homes after 30 September 2002 will not be able to buy the property for five years.

The council said the measure would help safeguard future housing stocks.

Councillor Barry McCulloch, convener of the housing and social work services committee, said pressured area status would be good news for those on council housing waiting lists.

He said: "In the areas of Cumbernauld and Moodiesburn there is an acute shortage of affordable rented housing and the council is trying to redress this problem.

"In addition to suspending the right to buy, helping ensure more house are available to tenants, the council is also planning to build about 125 new properties North Lanarkshire-wide as it recognises the need for high quality houses for rent."

Pressured area status legislation was introduced in 2001 to help prevent further reduction in the number of local authority properties.

North Lanarkshire Council said it made the application for the status after a public consultation, in which 74% of respondents were in favour.