A NEW Tory bid to abolish lifetime council tenancies by stealth shows they are intent on “destroying the principle of security,” housing activists said yesterday.

Sly Housing Minister Brandon Lewis has quietly amended the controversial Housing and Planning Bill to effect a “phasing out” of secure tenancies.

But capping new social tenancies at up to five years would push more people to rent private landlords’ insecure and expensive homes, said Defend Council Housing (DCH) chairwoman Eileen Short.