A new bill in England will empower social housing landlords to evict perpetrators of domestic abuse directly, without requiring the victim to leave their home first. The legislation also overhauls the right-to-buy scheme, increasing the minimum tenancy period from three to ten years.
Key Provisions of the Bill
The government states that the bill, set for debate in the House of Lords on Monday, aims to address the long-term decline in social housing and provide stronger protections for tenants experiencing domestic abuse. Currently, landlords can only evict an abuser after the victim has moved out, and in joint tenancies, the victim may have to end the tenancy entirely, risking homelessness.
Under the proposed changes, landlords will be able to remove abusers from properties, and courts can transfer joint tenancies to the victim's sole name or require the landlord to offer suitable alternative accommodation. The bill also closes a loophole that allows abusers to make victims homeless by ending a joint tenancy early during eviction proceedings.
Right-to-Buy Reforms
The right-to-buy policy, introduced under Margaret Thatcher, is being significantly altered. Social housing tenants will now need to wait ten years before purchasing their home from a council or housing association, up from three years. Newly built social homes will be protected for 35 years, and hard-to-replace rural homes will be exempt from the scheme. Councils will also gain a stronger right of first refusal to buy back previously sold properties.
Reactions and Context
Domestic abuse campaigners, including the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance, have welcomed the bill as an important and overdue step forward. Last year, approximately 15,000 families in England were forced to seek new social homes due to domestic abuse, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, writing in the Guardian, emphasized that the bill addresses systemic failures and underfunding in social housing, pledging the biggest increase in social and affordable homes for a generation. The bill also removes outdated requirements from the 2016 Housing and Planning Act, such as forcing councils to sell high-value homes and charge higher rents to higher-income tenants.
The legislation is at its second reading in parliament, having been announced in the King's Speech on 13 May. If passed, it will provide social housing providers with the certainty needed for long-term planning and construction.
