Minister for Housing and Planning (): Everyone deserves to
live in a decent, safe, secure and affordable home. Yet far too
many families in need of a social rented home are languishing on
local authority waiting lists, forced to struggle in the private
rented sector or in expensive temporary accommodation, driving up
rents and housing benefit costs in the process. At the same time,
the ability and willingness of social housing providers to invest
in the building of new social rented homes is undermined by the
steady and significant loss of existing stock through Right to
Buy.
Today, the government has introduced the Social Housing Bill.
The Bill has three core objectives. First, to protect
much-needed social housing stock and thereby incentivise the
building of more social rented homes. Second, to create a fairer
system with greater protections for social housing tenants in
instances of domestic abuse. Third, to clarify the statute book
and reduce unnecessary bureaucracy so that providers can invest
in new social and affordable homes with confidence.
The Bill delivers on our manifesto commitments to prioritise the
building of new social rented homes and better protect our
existing stock. It builds on the funding and regulatory certainty
that the government has provided to the sector and supports the
delivery of the five-step plan we published in July 2025 to
deliver a decade of renewal for social and affordable housing
(HCWS771(opens in a new
tab)).
Protecting existing social housing stock and
incentivising the building of more social homes
At the heart of the Bill are comprehensive reforms to the Right
to Buy scheme. The scheme provides an important route for social
housing tenants to own their own homes. However, many of the
homes sold under the Right to Buy have not been replaced. Not
only has this depleted much-needed stock, but it has also
reduced the motivation and confidence of councils to build,
and restricted broader investment in council housing.
Following the reduction in maximum Right to Buy cash discounts
that was announced at Autumn Budget 2024, we consulted on further
reforms to the Right to Buy between 20 November 2024 and 15
January 2025. In July last year, we published our response to
that consultation and committed to bringing forward legislation
to implement proposals when Parliamentary time allowed.
Accordingly, the Bill includes a range of further reforms to the
Right to Buy scheme including increasing the eligibility
requirement to 10 years; amending percentage discounts to better
align with the new maximum cash discounts; and exempting newly
built social housing for 35 years.
The Bill will also strengthen the rules that apply after a social
home has been sold. It will extend in perpetuity the Right of
First Refusal for homes sold under the Right to Buy and Right to
Acquire, so that landlords retain the opportunity to reacquire
homes when they are later resold. In addition, the Bill will
reform the Right to Acquire scheme to align with the reformed
Right to Buy scheme, improving consistency.
Alongside the Right to Buy reforms, the Bill also includes
provision to ensure councils and other providers in the area are
notified before social homes are sold by private registered
providers to maximise opportunities to retain stock by preventing
homes being lost to the private market.
Protecting tenants who are victims of domestic abuse by
providing them with greater security and stability
All social housing tenants deserve to live in decent homes, to be
treated with fairness and respect, and to have their problems
resolved quickly. The Bill builds on the extensive programme of
government activity already underway to protect and empower
tenants by introducing new protections for victims of domestic
abuse living in social housing.
At present, landlords and courts only have limited means to
remove a perpetrator from a tenancy while allowing the
victim-survivor to remain securely in their home. This can leave
victims facing additional hardship, instability and an increased
risk of homelessness. The Bill will give landlords and the courts
new and strengthened grounds to address domestic abuse and, in
joint tenancy cases, remove a perpetrator from the tenancy where
there has been domestic abuse allowing victims to remain in their
home or move to suitable alternative accommodation where this is
available.
Clarifying the statute book and reducing unnecessary
bureaucracy
The social housing sector needs long-term certainty and
stability to drive up investment and boost supply. The Bill
includes a range of measures designed to ensure that providers
can invest in new social and affordable homes with confidence. It
streamlines the outdated consents process, so that councils do
not have to seek approval from the Secretary of State when they
want to take certain actions to manage their social housing
stock. And it repeals a number of unimplemented provisions from
the Housing and Planning Act 2016 including the requirement for
local authorities to sell high-value social homes, grant flexible
(fixed-term) tenancies, and charge higher-income tenants higher
rents.
