Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-02-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what impact they expect fixed-term tenancies to have on (1) local authorities’ ability to fulfil their housing obligations for homeless families, and (2) levels of homelessness.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Homeless households and those owed the main homelessness duty will continue to be prioritised for social housing by means of the statutory ‘reasonable preference’ categories.

The requirement for local authorities to offer fixed-term tenancies in future is designed to ensure that landlords get the best use out of their social housing by focusing it on those who need it the most for as long as they need it. As it should increase the number of available social lettings over time, it should mean that more homeless households are able to access the social rented sector.