Government plans to force local authorities to sell off council homes could see Runnymede lose as many as 33 vital low cost properties in one year says the charity Shelter.

The new Housing and Planning Bill going through parliament will force councils to sell a proportion of their homes on the open market as they become vacant - freeing money that would then be used to fund discounts of up to £100,000 for housing association tenants taking up the 'right to buy'.

Shelter - the homeless charity that reaches its 50th anniversary this year - estimates that Runnymede Council which covers Egham and Chertsey area would have to sell off 33 properties annually raising more than £10 million, to meet the cost of the scheme.

Campbell Robb, Shelter’s chief executive, said: “With millions of families struggling to find a home they can afford, forcing councils to sell-off huge swathes of the few genuinely affordable homes they have left is reckless.

“While the small number of lucky winners from this policy will understandably be grateful for the chance to buy their Housing Association property, ultimately far more people will lose out and be left with no choice but expensive, unstable private renting.

“The government is out of touch on this issue, and running out of time to help the millions of ordinary people in the South East crying out for a home that they can actually afford.”

Shelter was founded in 1966, directly following the showing of Ken Loach's legendary television drama Cathy Come Home, which showed in painfully realistic detail how an ordinary family could easily find itself out on the streets thanks to a combination of unlucky incidents.

For free and independent advice from Shelter visit shelter.org.uk/advice or call the helpline on 0808 800 4444.