As well as building 1,000 new homes, the council plans to buy back some properties sold to residents through the Right to Buy scheme.
The council has sold 169 properties in the past four years and 18 since April and regularly receives inquiries from homeowners about the possibility of buying back their home.
Speaking at yesterday’s cabinet meeting at Havering Town Hall, Residents’ Association leader Cllr Ray Morgon said: “If you can build a home for £175,000 why would you pay market rate to buy one back?”
It was explained by cabinet member for housing Cllr Damian White that there are some properties in the borough that can be bought back for the same amount or less.
“There’s not a lot,” he said. “But there are some.”
Council leader Cllr Roger Ramsey explained that buying back homes includes the land too, and also highlighted the £175,000 new build cost was an average.
Right to Buy was launched by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in Amersham Road, Harold Hill, in 1980 when she visited the three bedroom house to congratulate its first owners, James and Maureen Patterson.
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