People living in social housing across West Lancs could be adversely affected by the government’s controversial new Housing Bill which finally passed through the House of Lords this month.

The bill has been amended several times in the Upper House and one of the most disputed elements has been the removal of lifetime tenancies for new tenants. Once it becomes law, councils will no longer be able to offer lifetime tenancies to new tenants, instead they will be required to limit new tenancies to between two to five years.

Also included in the bill is a change known as ‘Pay to Stay’, which means that households outside of London that have an annual income of £31,000 or more will be charged higher rents for their social housing. The previous threshold was set at £60,000 by the coalition government.

Councillor Jenny Patterson, Portfolio Holder for Housing & Landlord Services, told QLocal yesterday: “The passing of this appalling bill clearly demonstrates that this Government does not care for social housing, nor does it care for the needs of those who require social housing.

“The bill also means that we, as a council, will be forced to sell our higher value housing stock as it becomes available to rent. The monies raised from these sales will not be kept by West Lancs Borough Council but will be passed back to the government to fund Right to Buy sales in other areas of the social housing market.

“I would like to reassure tenants that this Labour council will continue to work hard to deliver better social housing services in West Lancashire and that we will remain vocal against the changes imposed by the passing of this bill.

“I urge any tenants who are concerned by how these changes might affect them to contact our customer services team on 01695 577177 or by calling in to our Customer Service Points at the Concourse in Skelmersdale and the council offices in Ormskirk.”