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Tens of thousands of hard-working families face being forced from their council homes under Tory plans to scrap subsidised rents, shock figures revealed today.

Nearly 60,000 households will be clobbered by George Osborne’s “pay to stay” bid to limit council housing to the poorest, according to a bombshell report for town hall leaders.

Under the plans, families in council properties with a total income of more than £40,000 in London and £30,000 outside the capital will be forced to pay rents at market rates.

Many earning just over the threshold will be unable to afford to stay in their communities, the Local Government Association warned.

Shadow Housing Minister John Healey told the Mirror: “This new research backs Labour’s concerns that this Tory ‘tenant tax’ could force thousands of working families from their homes.

“As the Housing and Planning Bill is debated in the House of Lords over the coming weeks, Ministers should take a hard look at the effect their plans will have and use this opportunity to think again.”

LGA housing spokesman Peter Box said: “Many social housing tenants across the country will be unable to afford market rents or take up the offer to buy their council home under this policy.

“A couple with three children, earning £15,000 each a year, cannot be defined as ‘high income’.

“Pay to stay needs to be voluntary for councils - as it will be for housing associations.”

The report, drawn up by Savills estate agents, found that higher rents in the private sector, coupled with soaring house prices in the south, mean social housing tenants whose income just tips them over the limits will be priced out of their local area because their wages don’t cover the rent hikes.

It is the latest front in the Tory war on social housing.

Last month, council estate residents revealed their fears of “social cleansing” under Government plans to bulldoze their homes.

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The Prime Minister wants to renovate or demolish and rebuild 100 “sink estates” while Britain is in the grip of a housing crisis.

More than 100,000 households a year face being hit by another cruel move to abolish lifetime council tenancies.

And the Tory plan to sell off hundreds of thousands of council and housing association-owned properties will leave some tenants facing huge rent rises.

Read more:How David Cameron plans to destroy Britain's social housing in 7 easy steps

Meanwhile, developers will be told they no longer need to build council homes.

The Housing and Planning Bill, which contains the controversial proposals, is back in the House of Lords on Tuesday.

Independent peer Bob Kerslake, who was Britain’s top civil servant until last year, called on ministers to pause the latest plan so pilot schemes could be carried out.

He told the Observer: “Pay to stay needs to be seen alongside the forced sale of council housing to fund right to buy for housing associations, the ending of permanent tenancies and the almost total end of funding for new social housing after 2018.

“Together, they threaten the future of social housing as we have known it.”

(Image: PA)

Tory Housing Minister Brandon Lewis suggested the cut off could be phased.

He told Five Live’s Pienaar’s Politics: “We said from the very beginning ... we want to bring in higher rents for people earning over £30,000 outside London, £40,000 inside London.

“That hasn’t changed. We’ve always said we would consider carefully how much more people pay as they move through the pay scales - once they get over £30,000.”