Federation responds to Prime Minister's comments on lifetime tenancies
Monday 9 August 2010
Commenting on the Prime Minister's proposal to end life time tenures for social homes, Helen Williams, assistant director at the National Housing Federation said:
'Changing security of tenure for existing social housing tenants should not be on the table, as people moved in and signed tenancy agreements on the basis that it was for the long-term, but there is a case for looking at what is offered to new tenants, as a way to seeing if over time social housing could help more people.
'It may be for some people that renting from a council or housing association for a short-term could be the base from which they can build up to buy or rent in the private rented sector. But, there are lots of issues to consider, like the impact on people’s behaviour if they thought they might have to move if they bettered their circumstances, for these reasons we would expect government to take its time to discuss these issues with tenant groups and social landlords.
'It is also worth bearing in mind that currently very few people living in social housing are earning the kind of money that suggests they could buy or cover rent levels in the private rented sector, with just 10% of households having incomes of more than £20,900.'
