Which British law introduced the Right to Buy scheme for many council-house tenants in 1980?

The Housing Act 1980 introduced the Right to Buy scheme for many council-house tenants in Britain.

The Act was passed during Margaret Thatcher's government and allowed eligible tenants of local-authority homes to purchase their properties at discounts. The policy aimed to increase home ownership and transfer part of the public housing stock into private ownership.

Right to Buy became one of the most consequential housing policies in modern British real-estate history. Discounts and eligibility rules varied, and later governments changed the scheme in different ways. The policy was associated especially with England and Wales, while Scotland and Northern Ireland developed distinct arrangements.

The Act is sometimes confused with the later Housing Act 1988, which is better known for changing private renting and introducing assured and assured shorthold tenancies. Those laws addressed different parts of the housing market.