The UK government has introduced an amendment to the Housing and Planning Bill 2015-2016 which would end lifetime security of tenure of council housing tenants and impose a maximum five year term limit on such tenancies. Under the new legislation local authorities will offer tenants of social housing, contracts ranging between two and five years duration. At the end of this fixed term, councils will review the tenant’s circumstances to determine whether a new tenancy should be granted. The council may alternatively decide to move the tenant to another more appropriate social rented property or terminate the tenancy. Where a tenancy is terminated, the local authority is required to provide the tenants with support to either enter into home ownership or to access other housing options.
The measures will not be applied retrospectively to existing tenants, however it will affect those who inherit a council tenancy. The previous UK government had already given councils powers to set their own tenancy term limits, however this legislation will now put a complete end to lifetime council tenancies. The change will not apply to tenants of UK housing associations. Government efforts to legislate for the “right to buy” in relation to housing association properties did not go ahead and were replaced by associations voluntarily selling their homes to those tenants wishing to buy.
Click here to read the full text of the phasing out of lifetime council tenancies under Part 5, Chapter 5.
Click here for further analysis by The Guardian.