Can we have the bill, please?

The Housing Bill was introduced into parliament on 8 December. Most of the proposals will come as no surprise to anyone who saw March's draft legislation. However, some measures are new, notably those on antisocial behaviour.

The bill, which is in seven parts, will have most impact on private housing, but local authorities will act as enforcement agencies, promoting good standards. The first five parts cover private housing: part 6 deals with public sector issues and part 7 with supplementary matters.

Under the first part, the fitness standards in the 1985 Housing Act – which allow local authorities to intervene in cases of poor or unsatisfactory housing – will be replaced with the Housing Health and Safety Ratings System. This scheme will focus attention on the health and safety of occupiers as well as the physical state of their dwelling.

The second part updates the definition of houses in multiple occupation, which contain some of the UK's worst housing. Local housing authorities will now be required to have a licensing system for larger HMOs – probably defined as those with three or more storeys where at least five people live. Owners and managers will have to meet certain standards (including fire safety) in order to be licensed. Authorities will also have the power to license smaller HMOs.

Local housing authority powers to deal with unfit housing go back decades, but part 3's provisions for selective licensing of other private landlords are new. Local authorities will be allowed to license to deal with problems such as low demand or antisocial behaviour.

This is a discretionary power and can only be exercised after carrying out consultation and seeking approval from the appropriate national authority (central government or the Welsh Assembly). It is likely that selective licensing could be used as part of a wider strategy to deal with antisocial behaviour and regeneration.

Part 4 contains other council powers to deal with unsatisfactory housing, including provisions to make management orders for HMOs.

Part 5 introduces the home information pack, which is designed to speed up the conveyancing process. People selling homes must have a pack of standard documentation available for prospective buyers. Controversially, this information should include a report on the condition of the property's energy efficiency.

The measures in part 6 cover secure tenancies and other public housing issues. These include changes to introductory tenancies that will allow local authorities to extend the 12-month trial period by a further six months. Surprisingly,this was not addressed in the recently enacted 2003 Antisocial Behaviour Act.

It is well known that the ODPM is concerned about the impact of the right to buy on housing, particularly on new developments in the South. Although the restrictions in the bill are substantial, they do not go as far as some had expected. Part 6:

extends the qualifying period for the right to buy from two to five years, but only for secure tenancies granted after the act comes into force

Part 6 curbs abuses whereby companies help tenants to buy, let the property for three years to avoid the discount repayment and then sell the property

introduces a new case where the right to buy cannot be exercised if a property is to be demolished within 18 months

increases from three to five years the period when purchasers have to repay the discount, including a proportion of any appreciation in the property's value

curbs current abuses whereby private companies help tenants to buy, let the property for three years to avoid the discount repayment and then sell the property. Such arrangements are termed "deferred resale agreements" and provide for the discount's repayment as soon as such an agreement has been entered into

introduces a new covenant that the tenant purchaser or any successor in title must offer to sell the property to the former landlord within 10 years from the date of sale

brings in a specific duty for landlords to supply information to tenants on the right to buy

allows landlords to refuse to complete a right to buy where they are bringing proceedings through either a demotion order (under the 2003 Antisocial Behaviour Act), or a possession order based on nuisance.

These changes to right to buy will carry over to properties voluntarily disposed of by councils or registered social landlords. Presumably, there will be amendments to regulations governing the preserved right to buy and those applying to RSL tenants' right to acquire. Once in force, these restrictions will apply to all right to buy, preserved right to buy and right to acquire sales and voluntary sales by local authorities, housing action trusts and RSLs.

Part 6 allows landlords to refuse to agree to a mutual exchange between secure tenants in cases involving antisocial behaviour, and includes powers to allow landlords to obtain information relating to nuisance.

Part 6 also reforms succession rights, so the same-sex partner of a deceased tenant can succeed in the private and public sectors. Also under part 6, the Housing Corporation (or the Welsh Assembly) will have new powers to give social grants to companies that are not registered social landlords to carry out new housing developments.