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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of specifying that new council homes be allocated half to existing residents on waiting lists and half to new foreign residents.

Social housing is a scarce resource and I believe it is right that available local homes should be allocated to long standing local residents, or those with a well established local association to the area.

The Government’s 2015 Manifesto included a commitment to introduce a new residency requirement, so that EU migrants cannot be considered for social housing unless they have been living here for at least four years; and made clear that this would be taken forward as part of wider EU treaty negotiation on welfare changes.