New Law Commission proposals to extend the right to inherit tenancies to unmarried and same-sex couples and to extend the rights of joint tenants could worsen the housing crisis, it was warned this week.
The Law Commission made the proposals in its second renting homes consultation covering co-occupation, transfer and succession. It suggested it would be easier to establish joint tenancies and for one tenant to then leave without the other facing eviction. It also suggested extending succession rights to carers as well as partners.

But that could mean hundreds of homes that would normally become available for re-letting when a tenant leaves or dies would remain with existing occupiers.

Ian Graham, partner with law firm Trowers & Hamlins, said: "If we were going to allocate on the basis of the greatest need, we wouldn't have succession rights at all. That is politically unacceptable, so everything else is a compromise. Nobody has an issue with the fairness of the Law Commission's proposals, but the overall affect of both these changes could be that fewer properties will be available to those most in need."

Law Commission housing team leader Matthew Waddington said the alternative was a general succession right, but with more power to the landlord to repossess if the new tenant did not fit its admissions criteria. This was rejected, fearing a tenant backlash.

The consultation is only until mid-November. Graham said: "If anybody has a better idea, now is the time to say so." Bryant added: "We need to think about this and we need our members to think about it."