Extending right-to-buy is Cameron’s big bazooka. But will it work?  

Just a few weeks ago, David Cameron had not decided whether to extend right-to-buy to a further 1.3 million families in housing association homes. The  idea, from Iain Duncan Smith, was relatively new and carried risks. As all radical policies do – but you can see why Cameron would be worried about this one.

Imagine two men, who work next to each other in a factory. One rents privately, the other rents from a housing association and is now offered a massive discount to buy his house: up to £102,700 if he’s in London, £77,000 outside it. He’s is over the moon: his capital gain would  be more than he’d be able to save in a decade or more.

But his workmate would be gutted, and would think to himself: I played by the rules. I finished school, never claimed a day’s dole and had the temerity to rent privately. And for that reason, I’m excluded from Cameron’s bonanza.