Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 7 July 2015 to Question 5576, on social rented housing: EU nationals, whether it remains his Department’s policy to introduce a four-year residency requirement for EU migrants following the decision of the UK to leave the EU.

Gavin Barwell

The Government remains of the view that social housing should be for those with a strong connection to the local community. Statutory guidance issued in December 2013 already ensures that only people who have lived in their area for at least two years can apply to their council for social housing.

We are considering whether to go further and adopt a stronger residency test by extending this to four years.