Cameron's council house idea was 'not in coalition deal' say Lib Dems

Mr Hughes said David Cameron's ideas for ending "council houses for life" had not been discussed within the coalition and "certainly do not represent the policy of Liberal Democrats".

Yesterday, he said the party would be willing to talk about the suggestion but warned that MPs would "not be backward in expressing our personal and collective views".

Mr Cameron floated the idea at a question-and-answer session in Birmingham on Tuesday.

He said there should be "fixed-term" tenancy deals so residents could moved on after "five or 10 years" if their circumstances change – rather than living in a council home "forever".

In a statement, Mr Hughes said: "Council tenancy agreements have not been discussed by the coalition, and any idea or proposal floated so far is nothing more than that – an idea or a proposal and not a policy.

"There was no mention of this issue in either election manifesto or the coalition agreement," he said, adding: "We will not let anybody have their homes taken away."