🏠 What does protecting domestic abuse victims actually mean?
Right now, landlords have few options to support victims to remain in their home if they share a tenancy with an abuser, and many victims are forced to either leave or end the tenancy entirely – which can potentially leave you homeless.
Last year, around 15,000 households in England had to find a new social home because of domestic abuse. In the year ending March 2025 the Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated that 3.8 million of people aged 16 and over experienced domestic abuse in the past year.
Here's what will change:
- Abusers can be evicted without the victim having to leave.
- Landlords and courts can remove abusers from social homes.
- Abusers can’t use the law to force victims out. If they try to end the tenancy with a notice to quit while an eviction case is underway, it won’t work - the eviction will still go ahead.
- Victims can stay in their home, with the tenancy put in their name alone.
- Victims can be offered another home if needed. If it’s not safe to stay, a victim can be offered alternative accommodation, where this is available.
These changes mean victims can stay close to their support networks, schools and work - instead of being forced to start over.
📋 What does changing how social homes being sold off mean?
Since 1980, more than two million social homes have been sold under the Right to Buy scheme.
Between 2012 and 2025, councils sold around 133,000 homes but only replaced 51,000. That's a net loss of over 80,000 homes – at a time when 1.3 million households are on waiting lists and more than 175,000 children are living in temporary accommodation.
Here's what's changing:
- Right to Buy isn’t ending – but the rules will be tighter to protect social homes and help rebuild supply over time.
- You’ll need to wait longer before buying. You’ll need to have been a social tenant for 10 years before you qualify (up from 3 years).
- Newly built social homes can’t be sold for 35 years.
- Rural homes that are hard to replace won’t be eligible for Right to Buy.
- Councils will have a stronger right to buy homes back. This helps bring more properties back into the social housing system over time.
💰 This is the biggest investment in social and affordable housing in a generation
These reforms sit alongside £39 billion of funding through the government's new 10-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme.
🔍 What else you should know
- These changes apply to social housing only. If you rent privately, your rights changed from 1 May 2026 under the Renters' Rights Act.
- Eligibility for social housing is not changing. Asylum seekers remain ineligible for social housing.
- The Bill applies to England only.
- Further detail on all measures in the Bill will be published separately.
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