Housing Minister Margaret Beckett dropped a bit of a bombshell yesterday.
The Government has (according to leaks in the Times) responded warmly to a CIH proposal to end secure and assured tenancies as we know them and replacing them with fixed term contracts which are reviewed every 3 or so years. The idea would be that, if, at the end of the review period you’re financially able to survive in the private sector (whether as a renter or a owner-occupier) you should be required to do so. In effect, social housing becomes a temporary stop-gap for people, save for those who are too vulnerable to survive in the private sector. The concern underlying this announcement is to try and get more people who are owed the full Part 7, Housing Act 1996 duty into accommodation.
Another Green Paper is promised in due course, where this proposal will be (one suspects) fleshed out. I wonder if another option might be to allow local housing authorities to build more houses?