Shelter's response to the Conservative party's announcement on social homes

Sarah Elliott, Chief Executive of Shelter, said: “Let’s set the record straight, there are already strict rules on eligibility for social housing. Homes are not handed out to people on arrival. To access social housing, you need to be legally settled, have recourse to public funds, pass a local connection test and have reached the top of the council waiting list.

“These divisive plans would brutally kick people out of their homes, including thousands of families and pensioners who have lived in them for decades. And let’s not forget that social tenants pay rent, which goes back to the public purse and into society. It is completely senseless to ruin people’s lives, drive up homelessness and put extreme pressure on councils.

“The housing emergency is caused by successive governments failure to build enough genuinely affordable social homes - not by who accesses social housing. This policy does nothing to deliver new social homes, which is what we desperately need. Bold action to get councils building again is what will work, not political point scoring.”