The Housing and Planning Bill is one of the most dangerous and far-reaching pieces of legislation passed in this country in a long time, yet its true impact has been unreported in the mainstream press and is largely unknown to the general public.
If passed, the Bill will:
1) Replace the obligation to build homes for social rent with a duty to build starter homes capped at £450,000 in London and £250,000 in England;
2) Extend the Right to Buy to housing associations without the obligation to replace them, further depleting the number of hoems for social rent;
3) Compel local authorities to sell ‘high value’ housing, either transfering public housing into private hands or freeing up the land it sits on for property developers;
4) Force so-called ‘high income’ tenants with a total household income over £30,000 (£40,000 in London) to pay market rents;
5) Grant planning permission in principle for housing estates designated as such to be redeveloped as 'brownfield land';
6) Phase out secure tenancies and their succession to children and replace them with 2-5 year tenancies - with such tenancies also being applicable to tenants who have been 'decanted' for the purposes of redevelopment.
For campaigning details see Defend Council Housing