This overhaul will be the biggest shake up of council housing for a generation.

Plans to introduce short term tenancy agreements of between two and ten years have been revealed.

Five million people are currently on waiting lists for housing and 250,000 council houses are deemed overcrowded.

Existing tenants will keep their lifetime tenancies but shorter contracts will be given to new tenants.

[ad#Google 200×200 right]Councils and housing associations will also be able to charge rent of up to 80 per cent of the market rate so that they can raise money to buy new properties. I was under the impression that councils still can’t build their own properties (unless like BCC they set up a seperate association), so this leaves the onus on Housing Associations.

So, if landlords ask the better off tenants to leave their property – what are we going to be left with? Sink estates where no one works thats what. If there is social housing in good areas, why can’t the poorer tenant continue to live there. Areas both good and bad should be mixed communities. Wouldn’t it be fairer to raise the rent for a tenant who is working rather than throw them out?

This is how it stands:

Housing associations will be able to choose whether to charge new tenants a ‘social rent’ or the new ‘affordable rent’, which will be set at a maximum of 80 per cent of market rents.

The new flexible tenancies will have a fixed term of at least two years, with six months’ notice for a tenant whose circumstances have improved sufficiently for them to move out of social housing.

The government is still considering keeping tenancy for life as standard for older people and those with long-term illnesses or disabilities. The consultation paper also asks for views on whether to extend the minimum fixed term from two years to a longer agreement for tenants with children.

Whilst more flexibility for landlords is a good thing, is this flexibility good for the tenant.

Where is this going to leave tenants who wish to exchange to a different area? Pretty good way of stopping it I should think.

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