THE government is planning to end the right of council tenants to stay in their homes for life.
An amendment to the Housing Bill, currently going through Parliament, will limit occupation rights for new tenancies to five years at the most. If the amendment is passed into law, councils will have to provide fixed-term tenancies of between two and five years.
At the end of the term, local authorities could extend the lease or ask a tenant to move. Mitzy Hendy of ‘Our West Hendon’ told News Line: ‘It’s disgusting, how can children grow up in five years? hildren need a secure home – everyone needs a secure home.
‘The unions should take action, housing needs to be safe and secure. The government are looking to privatise council homes, with 3.500 estates already gone througout the country. That’s what this is all about. We want to get rid of this government.’
Defend Council Housing spokeswoman Eileen Short said: ‘Why shouldn’t your partner or adult child carry on living in their home if you, the tenant, dies or moves out? We have paid for these homes many times over through renting. We won “homes for life” secure tenancies in 1980 through the fight for permanent homes we can afford.
‘Now the government is trying to rush through this attack on tenants, without even putting it in the draft bill. Their Housing Bill would force through market sell offs of the most valuable council homes, force working families onto market rents, and shift public funding and support into yet more subsidies for developers. That’s why we have to defeat this Bill.’
In a ‘Dear David’ letter to Cameron John Healey, Labour’s housing spokesman says: ‘This is a Bill to kill off affordable homes, and an attack on people on low and middle incomes who need them the most.
‘Your Minister made clear in committee that the circumstances of tenants will be reviewed to see if they deserve to stay in their home after the maximum five-year tenancy period. This means that any measures that tenants take in that time to improve their situation – getting a job, or taking on an extra shift at work – could mean they’re deemed to not need their homes any more.
‘This is perverse. It’s the ultimate penalty for working families – get a job, and forfeit your home as a result.’