Everyone deserves to live in a decent, safe, secure and affordable home. Yet far too many families in need of a social rented home are languishing on local authority waiting lists, forced to struggle in the private rented sector or in expensive temporary accommodation, driving up rents and housing benefit costs in the process. At the same time, the ability and willingness of social housing providers to invest in the building of new social rented homes is undermined by the steady and significant loss of existing stock through right to buy.
Today, the Government have introduced the social housing Bill. The Bill has three core objectives: first, to protect much-needed social housing stock and thereby incentivise the building of more social rented homes; secondly, to create a fairer system with greater protections for social housing tenants in instances of domestic abuse; and thirdly, to clarify the statute book and reduce unnecessary bureaucracy so that providers can invest in new social and affordable homes with confidence.
The Bill delivers on our manifesto commitments to prioritise the building of new social rented homes and better protect our existing stock. It builds on the funding and regulatory certainty that the Government have provided to the sector and supports the delivery of the five-step plan we published in July 2025 to deliver a decade of renewal for social and affordable housing (HCWS771).
Protecting existing social housing stock and incentivising the building of more social homes
At the heart of the Bill are comprehensive reforms to the right to buy scheme. The scheme provides an important route for social housing tenants to own their own homes. However, many of the homes sold under the right to buy have not been replaced. Not only has this depleted much-needed stock, but it has also reduced the motivation and confidence of councils to build, and restricted broader investment in council housing.
Following the reduction in maximum right to buy cash discounts that was announced at autumn Budget 2024, we consulted on further reforms to the right to buy between 20 November 2024 and 15 January 2025. In July last year, we published our response to that consultation and committed to bringing forward legislation to implement proposals when parliamentary time allowed.
Accordingly, the Bill includes a range of further reforms to the right to buy scheme, including increasing the eligibility requirement to 10 years, amending percentage discounts to better align with the new maximum cash discounts, and exempting newly built social housing for 35 years.
The Bill will also strengthen the rules that apply after a social home has been sold. It will extend in perpetuity the right of first refusal for homes sold under the right to buy and right to acquire, so that landlords retain the opportunity to reacquire homes when they are later resold. In addition, the Bill will reform the right to acquire scheme to align with the reformed right to buy scheme, improving consistency.
Alongside the right to buy reforms, the Bill also includes provision to ensure councils and other providers in the area are notified before social homes are sold by private registered providers to maximise opportunities to retain stock by preventing homes being lost to the private market.
Protecting tenants who are victims of domestic abuse by providing them with greater security and stability
All social housing tenants deserve to live in decent homes, to be treated with fairness and respect, and to have their problems resolved quickly. The Bill builds on the extensive programme of Government activity already under way to protect and empower tenants by introducing new protections for victims of domestic abuse living in social housing.
At present, landlords and courts have only limited means to remove a perpetrator from a tenancy while allowing the victim-survivor to remain securely in their home. This can leave victims facing additional hardship, instability and an increased risk of homelessness. The Bill will give landlords and the courts new and strengthened grounds to address domestic abuse and, in joint tenancy cases, remove a perpetrator from the tenancy where there has been domestic abuse allowing victims to remain in their home or move to suitable alternative accommodation where this is available.
Clarifying the statute book and reducing unnecessary bureaucracy
The social housing sector needs long-term certainty and stability to drive up investment and boost supply. The Bill includes a range of measures designed to ensure that providers can invest in new social and affordable homes with confidence. It streamlines the outdated consents process, so that councils do not have to seek approval from the Secretary of State when they want to take certain actions to manage their social housing stock. It also repeals a number of unimplemented provisions from the Housing and Planning Act 2016, including the requirement for local authorities to sell high-value social homes, grant flexible (fixed-term) tenancies, and charge higher-income tenants higher rents.
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