Social housing tenants creating “mayhem and misery” must be stopped, MPs have agreed.

Reform UK MP Lee Anderson called for a crackdown on “feral families” with a “three strikes and you’re out” policy if neighbours were affected by antisocial behaviour.

In a surprise twist, Labour MP Steve Yemm labelled the plan “too liberal and lenient” and demanded a zero tolerance policy.

Responding in the Westminster Hall debate, Labour housing minister Alex Norris admitted current eviction laws “don’t always work” and said tougher action was being worked on by the government.

MPs debate issues they are concerned about in Westminster Hall, a room next to the House of Commons, but it does not lead to a change in the law.

Anderson said he set up the debate on antisocial behaviour because it “destroys and ruins lives” and was blighting “every constituency throughout our great country”.

Claiming the threat of eviction could transform offenders into good tenants, the Ashfield MP said: “We need a deterrent…. I believe in a ‘three strikes and out’ rule.”

Responding to questions about where evicted tenants would live, he said: “I’m not bothered about where they go.

“I’ve got two options for these people – they can either behave themselves and become good tenants, good neighbours, and integrate.

“Or they could do what other people do, normal people – go and get a job, stop committing crime, save some money up, work hard, save a deposit… and then go and private rent somewhere.”

However, neighbouring MP for Mansfield in the East Midlands, Steve Yemm, said asking victims of antisocial behaviour to spend years collecting and providing evidence of three breaches was too much.

The Labour MP said: “I would argue that this proposition is somewhat too liberal and lenient and doesn’t go far enough to address the issues.”

Intervening, Anderson responded he was “astounded” and asked Yemm to agree to a “one-strike and you’re out” rule instead.

Yemm answered “that’s exactly what I’m saying”, adding victims – the majority of them women – had to “endure… many, many years of suffering under this type of abuse” and too many were then told no action could be taken.

“This should be a zero tolerance policy,” Yemm said, adding council powers should be bolstered so upstanding citizens could enjoy “peace and security” in their homes.

Another Labour MP, Andrew Cooper, said the authorities also needed to stop dumping tenants “grappling with addiction” into social housing without adequate support and called for more preventative action.

Liberal Democrat housing spokesman Gideon Amos said the best deterrent would be better funding for police and councils to use the powers they already have.

He set out how existing powers already allowed for “one strike” eviction in the worst cases, so Anderson’s plan would only “make the law weaker and give comfort to the most antisocial culprits”.

The MP for Taunton and Wellington, who is also a social housing landlord, added: “Simply evicting tenants onto the streets won’t reduce antisocial behaviour, it will move the antisocial behaviour from the house to the street where all the evidence suggest it will only get worse.”

Shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake said social housing should be “a privilege not a right” and the public only wanted “decent and hardworking people that have contributed to this country” to be given social housing.

The Conservative MP said: “It’s good to see across the House today we seem to be in violent agreement about the three strikes policy, which seems to be a maximum not a minimum.”

Housing minister Alex Norris called attention to the Labour government’s Safer Streets focus on boosting police numbers to tackle antisocial behaviour and the new Respect Orders, which he said should be toughened up.

He said: “Crucially I think there is a significant gap at the moment for those who make persistent offences, that those penalties [should] grow and are serious ones.”

Norris said there was also ongoing work on the Renters’ Rights Bill, with new powers for social landlords to seek evictions “immediately in the most serious cases” and for judges to take the offenders’ engagement with efforts to support them into account.

However, he also highlighted how a home could be “a real foundation” for families and said there should still be a focus on supporting those, particularly single mums, who were struggling.