Portillo echoes Localis' call to end 'tenancy for life'

Author: Inside Housing - Jun 4, 2009

Former Conservative front bencher Michael Portillo has added his voice to those who think that security of tenure should end.

Mr Portillo, who ran for the Tory leadership in 2001, told Inside Housing in an exclusive interview that there isn’t enough social housing to keep giving people homes for life.

‘It should be clear that social housing, which is in short supply, is made available to meet social need. Where the need ceases to exist, the provision is no longer appropriate,’ he said.

Mr Portillo would also give priority to those who have connections with their local area, over new immigrants. ‘Then of course, when they are settled in a community, what they can achieve rises. I think there should be some priority,’ he said.

Mr Portillo’s comments on tenure follow a report published in April by Conservative think tank Localis, which urged an incoming Conservative government to scrap security of tenure. Localis would only require councils to house those who are unable to house themselves.

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