Law commission proposals to change tenancies have been branded "outrageous" by housing cooperatives. They argue the move would destroy the nature of cooperative housing.
The Confederation of Cooperative Housing said proposals in the commission's Renting Homes: Status and Security consultation paper to extend security of tenure to fully mutual cooperatives represented the "antithesis" of the cooperative ethos.

CCH policy spokesman Nic Bliss said: "This bunch of lawyers are proposing to change the fundamental relationship between cooperative tenant and landlord."

Currently, tenants of a fully mutual cooperative must also be co-op members, meaning expulsion from membership also means eviction via a notice to quit. The proposals would make co-ops depend on law courts to secure an eviction, which may not be granted, allowing people to remain despite no longer being a co-op member.

National Housing Federation policy officer John Bryant said: "Fully mutual cooperatives were originally excluded from statutory security of tenure for very good reasons and we think those reasons still apply."

But Richard Percival, team manager of the Law Commission housing team, said the changes would increase tenancy security for cooperative members.