Tristram Hunt – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tristram Hunt on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the residence requirements are for (a) existing right-to-buy entitlements and (b) the proposed extension of right-to-buy to housing association tenants for (i) non-EU foreign nationals, (ii) EU foreign nationals and (iii) UK citizens.

Brandon Lewis

Before 2006 all applicants for Government supported home ownership had to have indefinite leave to remain in the UK. The last Labour Government changed these rules in 2006.

Subject to EU Treaty negotiation, we will introduce a residency test for social housing, requiring European Economic Area nationals to have lived in the UK for 4 years. This means that European Economic Area nationals would not be eligible for Right to Buy until they had lived in this country for a minimum of seven years.

A tenant must have had a public sector tenancy within the UK for three years before qualifying for Right to Buy.