Councils have spent millions buying back homes they sold at a discount under Right-to-Buy laws to meet housing shortages.

Islington council spent more than £6.2m buying back homes it sold to people for less than £1.3m, a Freedom of Information request reveals.

Housing charities blame a lack of investment in social housing.

The government has vowed to build more affordable houses and in February called the current market “broken”.

The Right-to-Buy policy was introduced by the Conservatives in the 1980s, allowing council house tenants to buy their homes at a discount.

BBC News looked at local authority areas where waiting lists rose for four consecutive years since 2011 and chose 10 at random.

One property in Islington in north London was sold for £17,600 in 2004 (at a discount of £26,400), and was bought back by the authority for £176,750 some 11 years later.

House prices there rose by 135% over that period, according to Rightmove.

Get the data here

Have right-to-buy homes been replaced?

Iona Bain, founder of the Young Money Blog, said: “The unfairness is accentuated by the fact that someone who could take advantage of Right to Buy has not only benefitted from living rent-free for 20 to 30 years but now can pocket inflated profits by selling at a time when councils are desperate for homes.

“They have lucked out from an extraordinary period of house price rises, unprecedented pressure on the housing system and major flaws in how this scheme was devised.

“If I was a young private renter struggling to pay my bills, let alone save for a deposit on my first home, I would be very angry.”