Council tenants will no longer get lifetime security of tenure under Government plans

A quietly-tabled amendment to the housing and planning bill would scrap lifetime security

Trellick Tower in London (Getty)

The Government has unveiled plans to strip new council housing tenants of their lifetime security of tenure.

A quietly-tabled Government amendment to the Housing and Planning Bill would force councils to offer tenancies of between two and five years.

The proposal was not in the original bill when its draft was first released.

Brandon Lewis, the housing minister, said: “A secure tenant can currently live in a property for life. This amendment phases out lifetime tenancies.”

“Towards the end of the term, the [council] landlord will have to do a review to decide whether to grant a new tenancy or recover possession.”

The vast majority of current tenancies for council properties give tenants lifetime security. Councils and housing associations already have the option of giving tenants shorter tenancies.

Combined with expensive new discounts under the Right To Buy scheme and increases in rents for tenants earning a significant income, the move could encourage the sell-off of more council homes as tenants buy their homes during the window of their tenancy.

The new rule does not apply to housing associations – who were recently dragooned into offering their homes to tenants at discounts under an extension of the Right To Buy scheme.

Council tenants with existing contracts will also be unaffected by the change, but people who inherit a tenancy on the death of their parents it will be automatically moved onto an insecure tenancy.

Local authorities will be required to give tenants who are kicked out of their homes advice on where to get housing next.

Geroge Osborne's summer budget cut social housing slightly, a move expected to save the Treasury money on housing benefit.

Councils and housing associations however have warned that the cut would affect their income stream used for building new homes.

The Government has built fewer social homes than ever in recent years as its shifts resources to building the more expensive "affordable homes" - let at a higher proportion of market rates.

The Independent reported in October that the change was being considered after industry figures raised the alarm at trade publication Inside Housing magazine.

A spokesperson for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: “This is about ensuring we make the best use of our social housing, and that tenancies change as needs change.

“We want to support households to make the transition into home ownership where they can.”