The new Social Housing Bill will make major changes to the Right to Buy scheme to help ease pressure on the housing market.
It will help stop the decades-old problem of new-build social housing being sold-off under the Right to Buy legislation – one of the main reasons for the UK housing shortage.
New social housing tenants will need to live in their property for at least 10 years before becoming eligible to buy it (compared to the current three-year requirement). This will help preserve the supply of affordable housing stock while supporting long-term investment in new homes.
Newly built social homes will be protected for 35 years, while areas like ours will benefit from extra protections for ‘hard-to-replace rural homes’ which could be made exempt from ‘right to buy’. Councils could further benefit from stronger powers to buy back former social homes.
Tenants will also benefit from stronger protections under new government legislation that protects those at risk of domestic abuse.
The bill, currently being debated in Parliament, gives social housing landlords new powers to evict perpetrators of domestic abuse while allowing victims to remain safely in their homes. Under current rules, landlords can often only take action once a victim has left the property, leaving many survivors facing homelessness or upheaval.
If approved, courts would be able to transfer a joint tenancy into the victim’s sole name, ensuring greater housing security. The legislation would also close a loophole that can allow abusers to make victims homeless by ending a joint tenancy during eviction proceedings.
The national domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247.
