In a keynote speech to the National Housing Federation, Shadow Housing Minister Grant Shapps announced plans to give social tenants the chance to move around the country for the first time.
"If you are a social tenant, you don’t have the same opportunities as other renters or home-owners," he said.
"The system means that your aspirations are squeezed, your expectations lowered, and your horizons are limited."
Announcing that a future Conservative government would facilitate a nationwide affordable-house-swap programme, every family in social housing - for the first time ever - "will have the chance to relocate by exchanging their home for another one, anywhere in the country".
Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: "This is an eminently sensible idea that could potentially help with sociable mobility and with getting people back into work.
"It is vital though that we do what we can to maximise new investment into rented housing, since it will be the private sector rather than councils, that will be putting roofs over the heads of many social tenants for some time to come."
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