Two-year minimum term for tenancies "too short", says Chartered Institute of Housing

The proposed two-year minimum term for general needs housing is too short and should be replaced by a five-year period, the Chartered Institute of Housing has claimed.

Responding to the government’s announcement that it would press ahead with its reforms, the CIH warned that “some of the changes risk stigmatising social housing tenants further and weakening communities”.

The Institute said a large majority of respondents to the consultation shared its view that two years was not enough.

“Whilst government anticipates that the majority of tenancies will be on longer terms, CIH is concerned that the introduction of a two-year minimum fixed term will have a destabilising effect on communities and individuals,” it said.

The Institute said it supported in principle the proposal to allow councils to discharge the main homelessness duty in the private rented sector.

However, it expressed concern about the quality of accommodation that would be available to those owed the main homelessness duty at a price they will be able to afford.

“CIH is not clear that accreditation, which only takes place at the discretion of local authorities, is a sufficiently robust safeguard for what can be vulnerable people,” the Institute said.

The CIH also welcomed the National Home Swap Scheme and said it would work to aid its implementation. But it warned that such an initiative “would only go so far” in promoting mobility within the sector and that more needed to be done.