Secure Tenancies no more?

Tenancy Issues

Updated: 03/01/2011

The government recently tabled the ''Localism'' Bill. Included in this bill are a number of changes to social housing. Of particular concern to Council tenants is the introduction of short-term ''flexible'' tenancies and changes to the rules of succession.

Flexible tenancies will allow Councils to let properties to tenants on a short-term basis, as short as two years, and to then evict those tenants at the end of the tenancy should the Council deem them no longer ''suitable'' for Council housing.

The proposed changes to succession rules indicate that only spouses and partners will be able to inherit tenancies in future. Children will not be able to inherit tenancies unless this right is explicitly granted in the tenancy agreement.

Whilst there does not appear to be a clear plan for either change to apply to existing secure tenancies there is some concern that the bill might allow this to happen through the back door.

Whatever the case, WERA believes that neither of these changes will help build stable and sustainable communities and that the impact of these changes on existing communities will be for the worse.