Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to give councils the flexibility to retain secure tenancies as standard in local tenancy strategies within the regulations under the Housing and Planning Act 2016; and if he will make a statement.

We have introduced fixed term tenancies for new council tenancies to ensure we get the best use out of our social housing stock and focus this valuable resource on those who need it the most for as long as they need it.

The Secure Tenancies (Victims of Domestic Abuse) Bill will ensure that existing lifetime tenants who need to move to escape domestic abuse and are rehoused by a local authority are granted a further lifetime tenancy in their new social home.

We will set out the circumstances in which local authorities will have discretion to continue to grant lifetime tenancies in regulations