Following a consultation, tenants living in council managed homes in the Folkestone and Hythe district are to be offered lifetime secure tenancies.
Since 2013 tenants have typically been placed on a 'fixed-term' tenancy which ends after a certain period of time. However, 80% of the 300 tenants who responded to a Folkestone & Hythe District Council consultation were in favour of scrapping fixed term tenancies.
Lifetime tenancies have the same terms and conditions as 'fixed term' tenancies but offer tenants more security.
The change also means tenants will not have to go through the tenancy review process every four years.
Councillor David Godfrey, F&HDC Cabinet member for Housing and Special Projects said: "The new lifetime tenancies give us an opportunity to improve the service tenants receive."
"These changes mean the majority of council tenants will be on the same kind of tenancy and will have the certainty of knowing that - provided they stick to the tenancy conditions - the tenancy is theirs for as long as they need it."
F&HDC Leader Cllr David Monk said "Implementing the new lifetime tenancies is an example of us acting on feedback from tenants."
"Tenants are at the heart of our housing service so it is important to us that they feel secure, safe and happy within their home."
Tenants with a fixed term tenancy will be contacted in the coming months by a member of the housing team to discuss how the tenancy conversion will be done.
Date published: 14 July 2022