Question about the new changes to social housing

Gandalfthegrey

Hi

I am an existing council tenant (have been so since April 11) and we are currently living in a 2 bedroom council house. We have a 3yr old boy and a 5 month old girl. When my son reaches 7 years old we will be able to put in for a transfer to a 3 bedroomed house. Will that mean we would then come under the new rules (ie only having secure housing for 2 years etc) or would I still be classed under the old rules from when we first became council tenants? anyone know?

Many thanks

princeofpounds

I don't think the policy has been decided on to that level of detail to be honest, given that they are still deciding on the minimum length of secure tenure in general.

squinty

There is a lot of misunderstanding about the new tenancy proposals. It was not the case that every council would offer 2 year tenancies, but that Councils could consider offering shorter tenancies (with a minimum lenght of two years). Each Council will need to produce a 'tenancy strategy' to exaplin how they will manage tenancies - I suspect that many will continue to offer lifetime tenancies to all.

Last week the Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, wrote to all councils to say that tenancies as short as two years would be the exception - and that tenancies should normally last for a minimum of 5 years.

See - http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/tenancies/government-backtracks-on-five-year-tenancies/6516967.article