You may be forgiven for thinking that we are now fast approaching the final jump to Royal Ascent... sadly at the 11th hour 2 new clauses and 1 new Schedule have been slipped in to upset what had been a rather well balanced apple cart.
These amendments seek to prevent new periodic secure tenancies from being granted (subject to very limited exceptions, mostly to be set out in additional legislation) and replace them with fixed term tenancies of between 2 and 5 years.
These fixed term tenancies will principally mirror the model of the current flexible tenancy,
Now here is the science bit......
A local authority who decides to grant a fixed term tenancy of 3 years or less, will, under this proposed clause, be able to avoid the option for tenants to Buy their council property.
Right to Buy eligibility commences after 3 years of being a tenant (s.119(A1), HA 1985
So.... if councils grant tenancies of 3 years or less and dont renew them, the tenant never becomes eligible to take up their Right to Buy.
On top of this, even if a council does grant a 5 year tenancy and the Right to Buy eligibility is met after year 3, the tenant will only be eligible for the minimum price discount on the cost of the property, This is because the additional discount (1% p.a. for houses or 2% p.a. for flats) only arises after the fifth year (s.129, HA 1985). So, a five year tenancy which is not renewed means the tenant will never get the “length of occupation” discount.
As we know there is seldom any joined up thinking in Housing legislation after all one of the main reasons for creating secure tenancies under the Housing Act 1980 was precisely to facilitate the Right to Buy.
on a slight side note: Succession to a tenancy is also under fire, with proposals that the spouse or civil partner only succeeds to a five year fixed term tenancy
The Bill comes back for Report Stage early in 2016 So watch this space to see how this little gem unfolds
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