David Cameron has said he wants to see the end of 'council housing for life' to enable the most in need the right to a proper home.
In what would be the most radical reform in housing since Margaret Thatcher introduced the 'Right to Buy' 30 years ago, the Prime Minister said security of tenure for council tenants could be entirely scrapped.
Instead, they would be given a lease lasting five or 10 years, so that their homes could be given to people in greater need if they in the meantime found a better job or could afford to move and rent in the private sector.
It would also mean that parents whose children have flown the nest could be forced to move into smaller homes so a larger family can take over their house.
Mr Cameron said yesterday that it was unfair that people simply stayed for life in the same home, while thousands in greater need could not find anywhere to live.
Almost two million people are on a waiting list for social housing, even though many large council properties are occupied by only one person.
The Prime Minister said the current system stunted ambition and meant people ended up staying on estates for life.
His comments were made in Birmingham, where he held a public question and answer session.
A voter told Mr Cameron that she had had been forced to sleep on the floor on a blow-up mattress for two years because her council had not been able to find her a larger property for her growing family.
He told her that the government had put in extra money to ensure that more affordable housing is built. But he added: 'That is obviously important, but frankly I think there is a bigger question - which is how do we make sure that people are able to move through the housing chain?
'At the moment we have a system where if you get a council house or an affordable house, it's yours forever - and in some cases people hand them down to their children, and their children live in them.
'And actually it ought to be about need. Your need has got greater, for the reasons you have outlined, and yet there isn't really the opportunity for you to move.'
He pointed to some councils who operated 'very good swaps policies' where when children leave home, they try to encourage people 'to go from a family home to a bungalow'.
'But there is a question mark about in the future, should we be asking: when you're given a council home - maybe in five or 10 years you will be doing a different job, you will be better paid, will not need that home and will be able to go to the private sector.
'Do we want to reform tenure to actually enable people to move through housing - rather than seeing it as something you get (great, I've got my council house), or you don't get (bad, I'm sleeping on a blow-up mattress).
'I think a quite flexible system, which not everyone will support, and will lead to quite a lot of argument - looking at a more flexible system, I think makes sense.'
Mr Cameron said that any changes will only affect future tenants, and not existing ones. The proposed shake-up would be subject to consultation first.
'We will be asking if in future we can relate more the need you have to the housing you get,' he said. 'Making sure we have social mobility, where people move through social housing - rather than see it as something that they get for life.'
Today the Department for Communities and Local Government confirmed they were considering the future of secure tenure for social housing tenants.
Housing minister Grant Shapps said: 'We are committed to protecting the security of tenure and rights of those currently in social housing.
'But we should also look at ways of how best to help the most vulnerable in our society, and how to tackle the record 1.8 million households that are now on social housing lists.'
He also unveiled a scheme to make it easier for social housing tenants to swap homes with people from across the country - freeing up homes in need
