In this paper evidence from the 1991 Scottish House Condition Survey is used to analyse the extent to which, after over fifteen years of continuing sales under the right to buy, there still remains further scope for sales under this policy. The authors confirm that there are continuing cohorts of people who express a desire to buy in the near future. Multivariate analysis indicates that the motivation to buy is chiefly created by the households' economic circumstances, but family characteristics, the type and perceived quality of the house, and rent levels also exert an independent influence. Analysis also suggests that the responses to the relatively hypothetical questions about future intentions appear to be consistent both with aggregate outturns and with the expected characteristics of possible purchasers.
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