LGA Briefing: Social Housing Bill – House of Lords Second Reading (1 June 2026)

Introduction

The Local Government Association welcomes the measures set out in the Social Housing Bill, particularly reforms to the Right to Buy scheme. The measures in this Bill will support local authorities to protect more of their social housing stock and support vulnerable tenants. However under the current housing crisis, some of the reforms could go further to support local authorities to ensure they are able to financially and practically keep the amount of stock required to meet current and future demand.  

Currently there are more than 134,000 households in temporary accommodation including more than 176,000 children, over one million people on council housing waitlists, and an annual net loss of 24,000 social homes since 1991. Local authorities’ ability to retain their own housing stock is more vital than ever. 

This briefing outlines the LGA’s key messages on the Bill’s provisions, highlighting areas of support and opportunities for improvement, following consultation and engagement with councils across England. A brief on specific clauses/provisions will follow ahead of further stages of the Bill. 

If you are interested in working with us to ensure the Bill better serves councils and their communities – or if you have a particular interest in any of the areas where we are seeking amendments – please contact [email protected] 

Part 1 – Protecting Social Housing Stock

• The measures included in the Bill, in relation to Right to Buy, are a step in the right direction for councils as they seek greater control over their housing stock. We urge the Government to ensure the Bill delivers the full scope of promised reforms, translating policy intent into legislative reality so that councils can get on with building the homes their communities need.

Qualifying period for the Right to Buy

• The LGA supports this clause that increases the qualifying period from 3 years to 10 years. This positive change will help support local authorities to rebuild their stock of homes, whilst still giving tenants the opportunity to purchase their home through the scheme. 

Exceptions to the Right to Buy

• The LGA has long argued that local authorities should be given the discretion to exempt specific property types from the Right to Buy scheme across a designated period, in order to reflect local supply and demand. The LGA therefore welcomes the Government’s decisions to introduce a 35‑year Right to Buy exemption for new‑build homes, to exclude rural properties from the scheme, and to exempt council homes let at market rent. However, we urge the Government to ensure that flexibility remains central to the framework governing these processes, so that local circumstances can be fully reflected

Discount

• Reforming discounts so they start at 5% of the property value and go up to a maximum of 15% or the cash discount cap is a positive step. However, a nationally set maximum discount does not offer the flexibility needed to ensure that discount levels align with local conditions, as highlighted in the Savills research commissioned by the LGA. We therefore ask that Government continue to consider the introduction of locally or regionally set discounts.

Receipt Retention

• Councils' ability to retain 100 per cent of the receipts from Right to Buy sales is a positive measure and must remain in place to support the delivery of new homes. 

Time Limit on Receipt Retention

• Government have confirmed that from 2027-28 the period that Right to Buy receipts must be spent will be extended from 5 years to 10 years. We ask though that Government take this a step further and give councils the ability to seek an exemption from returning receipts following this period where legitimate reasons exist, such as where more complex developments or regeneration projects may take longer and delay the use of receipts. Allowing councils to retain the receipts they receive from sales indefinitely would help assure future development and prevent risk of both the finances of future schemes as well as the risk of non-delivery of homes.   

Protecting Local Authority Housing Stock

• The LGA supports the package of reforms put forward by the Government to strengthen safeguards within the Right to Buy scheme by preventing repeat use of the discount, extending councils’ ability to reclaim discounts from 5 to 10 years, ensuring a perpetual right of first refusal on resales, and repealing unworkable sections of legislative bureaucracy. These measures will help will promote sustainable home ownership, while helping to rebalance social housing, however given the scale of the ongoing housing crisis the LGA would encourage the Government to go further on the reclaiming of discount and increase the requirement to 15 years from 10.  

Disposals

• The LGA supports the Government’s proposals to establish a requirement for private registered providers to notify the relevant local authority and other private providers in their area before disposing of social housing dwellings. This will help to retain within the social sector, enable councils to strategically acquire stock, and give councils early notice of disposals affecting waiting lists or homelessness pressures. To maximise the benefits of this proposal, sales should be negotiated on an existing social housing valuation price.

Part 2 – Tenant Protections

Domestic Abuse

• The Bill contains specific tenancy reform measures intended to strengthen housing security for victims of domestic abuse within the social housing sector. In particular, it introduces powers enabling landlords to seek possession against perpetrators without requiring the victim to leave the property, addressing a longstanding gap whereby victims were often forced to choose between remaining in an unsafe environment or losing their home. The provisions also establish mechanisms for transferring joint tenancies into the sole name of the victim where appropriate, alongside safeguards preventing perpetrators from ending a tenancy in retaliation during proceedings. Where remaining in the property is not considered safe or suitable, the Bill provides powers for courts to support access to alternative social housing accommodation without loss of tenancy security. Collectively, these measures are intended to improve victim safety, housing stability and continuity of support for those experiencing domestic abuse.

Schedule 2

Social Housing: Consent requirements

• The LGA supports the provisions removing the requirement for property owners to have Secretary of State consent to dispose of dwellings that were formerly local authority housing, or still are, where consent currently applies, including homes where the Right to Buy has been exercised, homes transferred to housing associations, and homes previously transferred by New Town Development Corporations. These provisions have never been used. They therefore add bureaucracy for the current property owners whilst not providing benefits to councils.
• The LGA supports other provisions in this Bill giving councils a right of first refusal on homes previously owned by the council: these provisions will provide a more effective and direct mechanism for councils to retain housing stock within the social housing sector.
• The LGA supports provisions removing requirements for Secretary of State consent for the redevelopment of councils’ housing assets. Having a clear, rule-based process will help to streamline social housing delivery.

Contact: Rebecca Annin
Public Affairs and Campaigns Adviser
Phone: 020 7664 3072
Email: [email protected]