More than 4,000 council homes in Wandsworth could be sold off as part of a controversial extension of the Government's Right to Buy scheme, according to homelessness charity Shelter.

Under the plans, councils have to sell off their most valuable council houses when they become vacant.

The money would then be used to fund discounts of up to about £100,000 for housing association tenants taking up the Right to Buy.

But Councillor Paul Ellis, cabinet member for housing at Wandsworth Council described the charity's figure as "complete nonsense".

He said the council estimates to lose 17 homes from Right to Buy - not the 4,145 estimated by Shelter, which equates to nearly a quarter of the borough's council homes.

He said: "We probably get a turnover of less than 1,000 properties a year so I don't know where they got their figures from."

Shelter looked at how many homes in London would have to be sold if the thresholds for selling were set at rates suggested by Government.

In the capital, the charity calculated that one-bedroom homes worth more than £340,000 would be sold when they became vacant.

Tooting MP Sadiq Khan, who is Labour's mayoral candidate for London, said: "Shelter's report should be a wake-up call to what will happen to communities if these forced sell offs go ahead."

Housing minister Brandon Lewis has defended the scheme as an initiative to support aspiring homeowners.

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