The leader of Haringey Borough Council has criticised the government’s proposed Right to Buy extension.

The Housing Bill announced in the Queen’s Speech would extend the Right to Buy to Housing Association tenants with that option previously only open to council tenants.

According to research backed by Haringey council the move could result in nearly 3,500 council homes being sold in three north London boroughs alone.

Leader of Haringey council Claire Kober said: “This counterproductive policy would choke the supply of new homes across London at the very time our city is battling a chronic housing shortage.

“Forcing councils and housing associations to sell off the few affordable homes that remain in areas where prices are skyrocketing will only serve to exacerbate – not resolve – the housing crisis.

“The research shows that, far from helping families onto the housing ladder, this policy would leave the simple right to an affordable home further out of reach for many in London.”

The report backed by councils in Haringey, Islington, Camden and Enfield into the effects of the policy also indicates the likey high cost of building like-for-like replacement homes.

The homes, promised under the plans, can simply not be met through the sale of council homes alone making additional borrowing inevitable to meet the costs of the policy, according to the report.

Housing minister Brandon Lewis said: “More council housing has been built since 2010 than in the previous 13 years. However, it is important that councils make the best use of their assets and manage their housing stock as efficiently as possible. So it is right that as high value council homes become empty they should be sold to fund new affordable housebuilding in the same area. “The proposals in the Queen’s Speech will do that and more, extending Right to Buy level discounts to over a million housing association tenants, with the homes sold replaced on a one-for-one basis.

“This is part of our wider efforts to help anyone who works hard and wants to get on the property ladder achieve their dream, with over 200,000 households helped into home ownership through Government schemes since 2010.”