The Right to Buy allowed people to improve their homes without getting permission from the council and gave them a sense of ownership and an investment which they could pass on to their children.
Unfortunately, over time, the discounts were cut, failing to keep pace with the rise in property prices and this vital rung on the property ladder was all but removed as applications ground to a halt.
With discount rates increased from a maximum of £22,000 to a maximum of £75,000, more people in Sunderland will now be able to buy their homes as is clear in the figures released which reveal a sharp increase since 2010.
It is essential that other initiatives such as the new one-for-one replacement scheme are also successful so that an adequate social housing stock is maintained in the city as more and more tenants purchase their homes.