Government to strip children whose parents die of automatic right to stay in their family council home

Last Updated: December 11, 2015By

[Image: Getty Images.]

Children whose parents die will be stripped of the right to stay indefinitely in their family council home under new Government plans.

A quietly-introduced amendment to the Government’s housing and planning bill will end security of tenure for all new council tenants – but also for people whose family members die.

Under existing rules, lifetime council tenancies can be passed to children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents and siblings upon the death of a tenant provided the property in question was their home at the time of the death.

Live-in aunts, uncles, and step-relatives are also covered by the current rules.

Under the changes, which were not included in the Government’s first publicised draft of the bill, tenants will instead be put onto a temporary fixed-term tenancy.

After that tenancy is over they will be forced to prove they meet the onerous requirements to get a newly-let council house.

Source: Government to strip children whose parents die of automatic right to stay in their family council home | UK Politics | News | The Independent

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10 Comments

  1. joanna may December 11, 2015 at 2:39 am - Reply

    I agree with this, every tenancy should be based purely on need, not inheritance, they do not own the house the landlord owns it, and calling adult offspring children is misleading and leans toward emotional

    • che December 11, 2015 at 11:10 am - Reply

      You are wrong Joanna, it means after 5 years the rent will go up, people will be thrown out of their houses, or starve or freeze, a private landlord will take it over or it will be demolished. It is signalling the end of council houses. also if the tenancy is only for 5 years people will be reluctant to decorate or maintain it, as they may not be there after 5 years.

      • mary December 13, 2015 at 2:18 pm - Reply

        I agree with you

    • Brian December 11, 2015 at 1:36 pm - Reply

      You might agree, but it shows the level of yours, and many others understanding of social housing – non existent. Social housing, before many tenents rights were stripped by the transfer to housing associations is held in trust, it belongs to the people who occupy and pay the rents, it can not be tampered with within the existing law. It was designed this way to protect people from the greed of landlords and to ensure a basic level of standard. It is, and always has been ‘equitable’ to the interests of all parties.

      These rights are being stripped away from society, in many forms, Freedom of Information, Human Rights, Housing, Spying on the public, Instructing how life should be lived, to name a few. So when you agree that we should live in a Stasi State – for the good of few, at the expense of the many, you get my thumbs down, wake up and understand whats happening here, before it’s to late.

  2. Dez December 11, 2015 at 12:02 pm - Reply

    Not sure there will be any future Council housing stock to worry about. They have built diddly squat because they had no money, or interest, and their future promise to reinvest council house sales monies into new housing stock will be yet another Cons lie.
    The private housing market is fast being dismantled by Ossies tax purge on buy-to-lets
    so the consequence of his actions will create either fewer available rents or large rent increases. This coupled with reductions in benefits will make for an interesting future for the have nots.

  3. Peter Thomassen-Clarke December 11, 2015 at 6:18 pm - Reply

    Rightly so. Social Housing is based on need. Only those who have the most need should have them. If there is right to buy, they should buy it, not automatically jump over several others on the list. If they are earning a good income they should free up the house for those genuinely in need. The article is heavily biased.

    • Mike Sivier December 13, 2015 at 12:56 pm - Reply

      And have you factored in the crippling cuts to the income of people in social housing that have already been made by the current Conservative Government? What about the fact that other affordable housing simply isn’t being built – the Tories are struggling to produce one-eighth of the amount they promised? So these people are left without the wherewithal to buy the house (and in any case it won’t be replaced for the next person with “the most need”). What do you describe as “a good income” and why on Earth do you think people in council houses are earning that much? Have you not been paying attention to anything that has been happening in this country since 2010?
      I’m in two minds about the right of people who aren’t on the original tenancy agreement to stay in a council home but it seems people like your good self haven’t stopped to consider all the implications.

  4. James Kemp (@Belthrud) December 11, 2015 at 8:53 pm - Reply

    Jonna you do realise that with this bill say your mother dies you have all the stress of a funeral and 14 days to find a new home? Try that with no saved deposit oh we can all keep a grand in your bank account especially if you’re disabled and get a massive £55 a week cummon this is another attack on poor people to get the plebs in etere place clear them out of expensive area’s and keep them blue tory zones!

    Personally i am so tired of people who go oh that;s a good idea who have a nice job & lifestyle and don’t think it takes 1 second to become disabled it happened to me btw by a nice tory business owner who cared more about making money than about the man on his bike trying to get to work. 14 years later i am a very changed man who has to fight for every penny facing attacks everywhere and wondering what the heck happened to his country doesn’t anyone care anymore?

  5. Levinas December 11, 2015 at 10:11 pm - Reply

    Not sure the headline is correct. It would require a change in right of succession legislation which covers all housing, which i didn’t think was occurring with this bill. This pertains to ‘social housing’ and whilst they can remove succession rights enshrined in council or housing associations regs, the over riding legal succession rights would still be applicable….wouldn’t they?

  6. Brian December 13, 2015 at 3:25 pm - Reply

    Speak to anyone conversant with the Scottish land clearances, this is history repeating itself. That too was government supported, thousands became destitute and died so the rich could eat mutton. Their only option was to emigrate to a civilised country.

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