Introduction -- A policy for its time -- The right to buy in the UK 1980-2005 -- Unequal opportunities, time and place -- Transforming social housing -- Extending the owner-occupied housing market -- Promoting the private rented sector -- Creating sustainable communities -- Housing management and housing quality -- The financial equation -- Policy transfer: international perspectives on housing privatisation -- A policy past its sell-by date? -- Learning from the right to buy.

Analyses the operation and impact of the Right to Buy policy, beginning with an examination of the policy background, followed by a review of its take-up, the pattern of sales and their impact on social housing, an examination of the financial aspects of the policy from the viewpoints of tenants, local authorities and central government, a study of the impact of Right to Buy via subsequent resales on the open market and on the private rented sector, and an analysis considering the potential of Right to Buy in creating sustainable and diverse communities. Also considers the experience of parallel policies in other countries.