First Right-To-Buy Sales Go Through After Pilots

The first sales have taken place under the government's controversial right-to-buy policy for housing association tenants. A handful of sales have gone through in recent days in London and Merseyside following a pilot project involving five housing associations. The housing minister said every house sold would be replaced. But the chairwoman of the public accounts committee said ministers had no idea how much the scheme would cost. Under the pilot schemes in London, Merseyside, Norfolk, Oxfordshire and Surrey, tenants had to have been resident for 10 years before they could become eligible to buy. Read more on the GovUK website.

Social Rented Housing: EU Nationals – Parliamentary Written Answer

Deidre Brock: 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.