WORK to replace less than a fifth of council homes sold under the right-to-buy scheme was started by English local authorities last year, the Local Government Association (LGA) revealed yesterday.

Building work started on a mere 2,055 replacement council properties in 2015-16 after 12,246 of them were sold at huge discount to social tenants — leaving just 17 per cent of like-for-like replacements promised by the Tory government in line to be finished so far — with a drop of 27 per cent in new buildings on the previous year.

Defend Council Housing spokesman Paul Burnham told the Star that it was “typical” for the Conservatives to “break promises that they had tried to justify the right-to-buy scheme with.”

He praised Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his left-wing allies in the party for talking about the need for more truly affordable social housing, while homelessness and private rents increase.

The Tory flagship scheme brought in by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s was scrapped in Scotland last month and Wales is also now considering abolishing it.

In England, it has been extended to housing association (HA) tenants and the roll-out will be funded by the sale of even more council homes.

Mr Burnham said: “This government is turning the opposite direction by trying to extend the right to buy for both council and HA tenants.

“The scheme is a disaster. We should scrap it because we need more social housing, rather than less.

“Jeremy Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell have been fantastic in bringing the need for public housing back into mainstream British politics for the first time in at least 30 years.”

Only a third of funds from selling a council property ends up being returned to local authorities, according to the LGA, which represents 370 councils in England and Wales.

To build homes, councils need to be able to borrow cash, keep funds from council house sales under right to buy and be given government funding, the LGA added.

Council leaders warned that drops in numbers of desperately needed council homes would worsen the housing crisis, increase homelessness and see a spike in housing benefit spending.

There are at least 1.4 million people on housing waiting lists across England already.

LGA senior vice-chair Councillor Nick Forbes warned that the shortage of replacements would spell the end of right to buy altogether.

Mr Forbes said: “Current right to buy arrangements are restricting councils from being able to replace homes being sold under the scheme.

“Right to buy will quickly become a thing of the past in England if councils continue to be prevented from building new homes.”