text: A massive extension of Margaret Thatcher’s landmark right-to-buy housing policy will be announced by David Cameron today. In a bold pitch to blue collar voters who delivered Lady Thatcher’s three election victories, the Prime Minister will call the Tories ‘the party of working people’. He will pledge discounts of up to 70 per cent to allow all 1.3million families in housing association properties to buy their home. Scroll down for video . Thatcher's plan: Prime Minister David Cameron will announce an extension of the right-to-buy scheme which will allow all 1.3million families in housing association properties to buy their home . The subsidy will be funded by forcing councils to sell off their most expensive properties when they become vacant. Mr Cameron will borrow a phrase used by Mrs Thatcher in her first speech as party leader to declare the ‘dream of a property-owning democracy is alive – and we will fulfil it’. ‘The next Conservative government will extend the right-to-buy to all housing association tenants in this country – 1.3million extra families – a new generation given the security of a home of their own,’ he will say. Mr Cameron is also expected to promise to link the minimum wage to increases in the income tax allowance – meaning more than a million workers on £6.50 an hour will pay no tax at all. Original plan: The right-to-buy scheme became Lady Thatcher’s most famous single policy . Launching his party’s election manifesto, the Prime Minister will urge voters not to risk a change of government: ‘Let’s not waste the past five years. ‘Now is not a time to put it all at risk, but to build on the progress we have made. 'We are the party of working people. So if you want a more secure Britain, if you want a brighter future for your family, and for you, then together, let’s build on what we’ve done – and see this through.’ The pledge to extend right-to-buy, which was introduced in 1980 but has now been stopped in its tracks by Labour in Wales and the SNP in Scotland, will delight the Tory faithful, who were buoyed last night by a six-point poll lead over Labour. Senior figures, including Iain Duncan Smith, Boris Johnson and David Davis, have been calling for the measure to be at the heart of the party’s manifesto. The original right-to-buy saw more than 1.5million council homes being sold off at discounted rates. Leading to a surge in home ownership, it became Lady Thatcher’s most famous single policy. The Coalition government has already increased right-to-buy discounts for council homes, meaning more are moving into the private sector. But most tenants living in homes provided by housing associations – not-for-profit bodies that have gradually replaced councils as the main providers of social housing – do not qualify. Enabling them to buy their homes is expected to require major changes to the 1996 Housing Act, and is likely to be fiercely opposed by housing associations themselves. As well as promoting home ownership, the scheme could also dramatically reduce the vast housing benefit bill. Promises: The Prime MInister, pictured posing for a selfie  as he campaigned in Alnwick on Monday,  will pledge discounts of up to 70 per cent on housing association properties, should the Tories win the election . Currently, taxpayers subsidise the housing costs of many unemployed and lower paid workers who live in housing association properties. The 1.3million housing association homes are occupied by 2.75million people. ‘At the heart of this manifesto is a simple proposition. We are the party of working people, offering you security at every stage of your life,’ Mr Cameron will say today. ‘If you’re a young person looking for training, if you’re looking for a decent job, if you want to buy your own home, if you’re raising a family and need help with childcare, if you fall ill, and need to rely on our NHS, if you are reaching retirement, and want real security. We are there for you – offering security at every stage of your life.’ Some Labour figures, including former welfare minister Frank Field and former Cabinet minister Alan Milburn, have previously championed the idea of extending the right-to-buy to housing associations. Ruth Davison, of the National Housing Federation, which represents housing associations, said: ‘Extending right-to-buy to housing associations is the wrong solution to our housing crisis. While extending right-to-buy will see some people being able to buy their own home with help from the taxpayer, these are people already living in good secure homes on some of the country’s cheapest rents.’ How does right-to-buy work? Introduced in 1980, it gives council house tenants discounts to buy their home. Labour dropped its opposition to the policy but, in 1999, Tony Blair’s government cut the top discount from £50,000 to £38,000 and sales slowed. What has the Coalition done? It has sought to reinvigorate the scheme, cutting from five to three the number of years tenants need to have been in a home before they can buy it and upping the discounts to a maximum of £77,000 for most areas. Are housing association tenants covered? Housing associations – autonomous, not-for-profit bodies that receive public money and loans from the private sector to provide low-cost homes – are largely exempt. However, around 800,000 HA tenants have a limited ‘right to acquire’ with discounts capped at between £9,000 to £16,000. The other 500,000 tenants lack any right to buy. What are the Tory proposals? They would legislate to give all housing association tenants full right-to-buy. Tenants in houses would get a 35 per cent discount, increasing by 1 per cent for every extra year they have been a tenant. Those in flats will get a 50 per cent discount, going up 2 per cent every year. Discounts for houses and flats would be capped at the lower of 70 per cent or £102,700 in London and £77,000 across the rest of England. How will this be paid for? The Tories say they will make councils sell off expensive properties when they become vacant. Council homes that rank in the most costly third of all properties of that type in their area will be sold off. Around 15,000 such properties become vacant each year, because tenants die or move. The sell-off could net £4.5billion a year. What about the proceeds? They will be split, with a proportion used to replace on a ‘one-to-one’ basis the council homes sold off. The new properties would be more affordable, probably in less expensive locations, and could be built either by a council or housing association. Another slice of the proceeds would be used to fund the new right-to-buy discounts for housing association tenants. The rest would go to create a £1billion fund, enabling councils to bid for cash to develop brownfield land for housing. It would enable them to clean up derelict or contaminated land, and could lead to 400,000 new homes in five years, Tories say.
target: David Cameron to announce extension to right-to-buy housing policy .
  PM will extend the right-to-buy to all housing association tenants .
  Discounts of up to 70 per cent to allow all  families in housing association properties to buy their home.