I feel awful, guilty and selfish saying this...but I shouldn't feel that way, because everyone out there against this scheme would be holding out both hands if they'd had the opportunity to get a council house.
I'm in a council flat, about to swap for a house, and I'm GLAD for this scheme, as it means, in essence, I'm already on the property ladder. I did end up in council housing after going through a severely bad patch, and feel bad that I could deny that same opportunity to someone else, but the fact is that you have to do what you can to look after yourself and your own...end of. I've been slogging away at saving up for a deposit to buy my own place, and this will take years, but I already have the right to buy, and so in reality, from my own point of view, and perhaps rather selfishly, it makes more sense to just continue saving and then just buy the house outright. It will be nice to be mortgage/rent free before age 30, not many people have that opportunity and that is why there is such a huge outcry from people who have 'bought' (mortgagees are really renting from the bank!) their homes on the private market.
To be fair though, I do live in a fairly nice area so I would be seeing it as a long term home not just to sell up and make a profit. I want a permanent home and there's nothing wrong with that. I ended up where I am through circumstance though, and genuinely don't understand why people 'aspire' to a council house and make a fuss over it. Yes, the rent is a bit cheaper, etc, but seriously, who would want a council house over a house in a 'nice neighbourhood'? :/