Browse content similar to 12/01/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
is promoted. I would like to see that spread across the Maghreb and | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
elsewhere, this is a great lodel from Rockwood Excel and for other | :00:00. | :00:11. | |
countries to Berlin. -- for Morocco to XL. I beg to move that ldvy given | :00:12. | :00:20. | |
from Mike -- for me to bring in a bill to strengthen penalties related | :00:21. | :00:23. | |
to serious criminal driving offences that leads to serious injurx or | :00:24. | :00:28. | |
death. To redefine such offdnces and amend bail conditions for those | :00:29. | :00:31. | |
charged with them and enhance the standards of investigation by the | :00:32. | :00:36. | |
police in the courts into stch offences to prove of victims of such | :00:37. | :00:40. | |
offences and their families with injustice and connected purposes. | :00:41. | :00:47. | |
2014-15 so 289 people killed in England and Wales alone due to | :00:48. | :00:54. | |
dangerous driving. But in too many of these cases and even mord so | :00:55. | :01:00. | |
where lesser charges have bden brought instead, victims of the | :01:01. | :01:04. | |
serious crimes and their falilies have been badly let down and we need | :01:05. | :01:07. | |
in number of changes to enstre proper justice is lived in the | :01:08. | :01:13. | |
future. I was pleased with 22 of the colleagues to meet the secrdtary of | :01:14. | :01:18. | |
state yesterday and I thank the Minister for his personal interest | :01:19. | :01:22. | |
in this matter. I was surprhsed and disappointed, as were colle`gues, | :01:23. | :01:26. | |
were being told there is a further consultation which will not produce | :01:27. | :01:28. | |
a document until later this year having had an answer from the | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
minister suggesting that because of these in itself would be colpleted | :01:34. | :01:41. | |
in spring 2015. The message today is to encourage them to continte to | :01:42. | :01:46. | |
work with as and ensure that in 2017 and not later we get conferdnce of | :01:47. | :01:52. | |
legislation. I today speak of the half of many families from `cross | :01:53. | :01:58. | |
the country. I had to offer cases, the case of 16-year-old Jimly still | :01:59. | :02:05. | |
killed by a reckless crimin`l driver on new year's even 2010 and then | :02:06. | :02:09. | |
David and Dorothy met, from Oak Ridge killed in January 2012 and I | :02:10. | :02:17. | |
dedicate this bill to the mdmories of Jamie, David and Dorothy and all | :02:18. | :02:25. | |
who have lost their lives from these serious crimes. Today it is 18 years | :02:26. | :02:30. | |
ago that Livia Galli Atkinson was killed in Enfield and I want to pay | :02:31. | :02:35. | |
tribute for the tireless calpaigning by her parents, George as Jtliet, as | :02:36. | :02:41. | |
well as Karen and Rebecca Strong and Kai -- Clive Metcalfe and hhs | :02:42. | :02:45. | |
family. I also wish to menthon a number of honourable members and | :02:46. | :02:49. | |
cases they've been involved in. The family of Olivia have been supported | :02:50. | :02:54. | |
by the Thames of Southgate, Liverpool and West Derby. John | :02:55. | :02:57. | |
Morley supported by the current and previous MPs from other works are, | :02:58. | :03:02. | |
the case of Jon Holland and Chris Jarvis supported by the member of | :03:03. | :03:06. | |
Reading West, the case of Ross Sinclair Symons and supportdd by the | :03:07. | :03:11. | |
member of Kingswood, Genie butchers supported by the member of North | :03:12. | :03:15. | |
East Cambridgeshire at the case of Joseph Brown latte is abortdd by the | :03:16. | :03:19. | |
member of Heywood and Middldton and support from Manchester's Kdy 1 3 | :03:20. | :03:28. | |
with -- radio station. Also the sporting of the family of Alex | :03:29. | :03:32. | |
Jeffrey, the member of the Hsle of Wight supporting the family of EV | :03:33. | :03:35. | |
Stanley and many other cases, including the member for East Ham, | :03:36. | :03:39. | |
whose own father was killed by a careless driver in 1992 and I pay | :03:40. | :03:44. | |
tribute to all the families who are campaigning tirelessly trying to get | :03:45. | :03:47. | |
justice and we will support them here until we get a change hn the | :03:48. | :03:52. | |
system. The changes today come from a meeting of those families and | :03:53. | :03:57. | |
fellow members back in Decelber 2014 and the manifesto we producdd as a | :03:58. | :04:02. | |
result backed by Break, the Road safety charity and I pay trhbute to | :04:03. | :04:08. | |
their amazing work. There is a number of changes that I will | :04:09. | :04:13. | |
briefly list as part of my bill today. Firstly, the distinction | :04:14. | :04:16. | |
between careless and dangerous driving is a false and unhelpful | :04:17. | :04:21. | |
one. Often coming to slight and subjective difference betwedn | :04:22. | :04:26. | |
someone's driving following below are well below what is expected of a | :04:27. | :04:32. | |
careful and competent driver. The problem is into many cases people | :04:33. | :04:37. | |
are simply given charges of the lesser charge of careless driving or | :04:38. | :04:42. | |
causing injury or death by careless driving rather than dangerots | :04:43. | :04:47. | |
driving because it's easier for prosecutors to see the convhction of | :04:48. | :04:50. | |
those of the difference in penalties is huge, five years maximum for | :04:51. | :04:57. | |
death by careless driving whereas up to 40 by causing death by d`ngerous | :04:58. | :05:02. | |
driving. Kilis is an open -, inappropriate and offensive term to | :05:03. | :05:08. | |
use the criminally bad drivhng the -- careless. Particularly where it's | :05:09. | :05:11. | |
resulted in horrendous suffdring and driving that only fault slightly | :05:12. | :05:14. | |
below the standards, a moment to lapse of concentration, it light be | :05:15. | :05:23. | |
careless but it is still dangerous. The reality is that careless | :05:24. | :05:25. | |
driving, which is the chargd that was opposed in the first pl`ce, has | :05:26. | :05:31. | |
institutionalised dishonestx into Arab justice system and that needs | :05:32. | :05:35. | |
to be rectified. Careless m`kes a value judgment about the intention | :05:36. | :05:41. | |
of the perpetrator. Are justice are stem -- system. Any killers driving | :05:42. | :05:48. | |
causing an accident is facttally dangerous. We should scrap both | :05:49. | :05:53. | |
charges and have a system where all dangerous driving is regarddd as a | :05:54. | :05:59. | |
category of offence, which can have the minimum or maximum as it gives | :06:00. | :06:03. | |
judges discretion because jtst know their hands are tied once a lesser | :06:04. | :06:07. | |
charge has been brought to the court and families are being filldd up and | :06:08. | :06:12. | |
down the country. We also nded to look at sentencing and the fact that | :06:13. | :06:16. | |
too few higher sentences ard given out. The Government last ye`r | :06:17. | :06:24. | |
roughly introduced a new offence of causing serious injury whilst | :06:25. | :06:27. | |
dangerous driving, something that in the past had been missed out. This | :06:28. | :06:32. | |
new charge should carry a m`ximum mayoralty of 14 years, the cost of | :06:33. | :06:37. | |
care as well as the devastation of people or seriously injured and can | :06:38. | :06:41. | |
never work again, possibly hn some cases can never speak or opdrate | :06:42. | :06:45. | |
normally again. That has got to be taken as seriously as causing death | :06:46. | :06:51. | |
by dangerous driving. Drivers who kill or are under the infludnce of | :06:52. | :06:55. | |
drugs or drink can face up to 1 years in jail but there is ` | :06:56. | :06:59. | |
perversity in that if a driver flees the scene to sober up, that can be | :07:00. | :07:04. | |
impossible to prove, leaving only a hit and run offence, which has the | :07:05. | :07:08. | |
insert -- absurdity of encotraging people to flee the scene of | :07:09. | :07:12. | |
obstructed justice. It and run drivers should face the samd maximum | :07:13. | :07:17. | |
penalties a lot -- as other drivers who kill and series Injera, with the | :07:18. | :07:21. | |
assumption if we a scene th`t they must have a reason to do so and that | :07:22. | :07:28. | |
would suggest guilt. We also need to look at the suspension, the | :07:29. | :07:33. | |
automatic or resumption of suspension of a driving licdnce as a | :07:34. | :07:38. | |
condition of bail in cases of dangerous drivers who seriotsly | :07:39. | :07:45. | |
injure or kill. In the case of Jimmy still, the practice of that crime | :07:46. | :07:49. | |
was driving for nine months in the very area, the very town prdtty | :07:50. | :07:55. | |
killed 16-year-old Jimmy. C`n you imagine how that felt for the family | :07:56. | :07:59. | |
to see him driving? Including along the same road where Jenny w`s | :08:00. | :08:02. | |
killed? That is happening m`ny cases. -- Jamie. Victims of criminal | :08:03. | :08:10. | |
driving her charges have bedn brought should be treated bx all | :08:11. | :08:14. | |
parts of the judicial systel as victims of crime. They are currently | :08:15. | :08:21. | |
not set as doing so and oftdn, therefore, are not given thd same | :08:22. | :08:25. | |
support as victims of other crime when the devastation is exactly the | :08:26. | :08:29. | |
same as any case, for example, of manslaughter. There needs to be | :08:30. | :08:34. | |
worked on and this is more completed and I ask the Minister to work with | :08:35. | :08:37. | |
his former colleagues and the Department for Transport to have | :08:38. | :08:42. | |
more appropriate investigathon of collisions, better guidance and | :08:43. | :08:45. | |
better advice in terms of rdleasing evidence to victims' familids, which | :08:46. | :08:49. | |
in a number of cases we havd looked at have simply not happened | :08:50. | :08:55. | |
adequately. Victims and famhlies are not always given access to dvidence | :08:56. | :08:58. | |
and have to trust the CPS to do its job properly, and too many of these | :08:59. | :09:00. | |
cases show they cannot. The Department for Transport must in | :09:01. | :09:11. | |
all cases stop describing incidents of criminal driving or somebody has | :09:12. | :09:18. | |
been harmed as accidents. The CPS already does not use the word | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
accident to refer to crimin`l driving offences but the Department | :09:23. | :09:30. | |
for Transport continues to do so, exacerbating the suffering families | :09:31. | :09:34. | |
by the sense somehow these `re not real cravings despite the | :09:35. | :09:38. | |
devastation because. We need changes throughout the justice systdm, to | :09:39. | :09:45. | |
prosecutions, to sentencing add to the very charges in the first place. | :09:46. | :09:50. | |
To give justice in the future and your families who suffer from these | :09:51. | :09:54. | |
of all crimes and of course to deter people who behave recklesslx behind | :09:55. | :10:02. | |
the wheels of the vehicle. H make the offer to work with them if they | :10:03. | :10:08. | |
wish to talk about this bill, we can discuss the content. But we must see | :10:09. | :10:13. | |
a change across the border to robust deliver justice for victims and | :10:14. | :10:18. | |
their families. The question does our honourable member has ldad to | :10:19. | :10:24. | |
bring in the build? As many as are of the opinion, say "aye". To the | :10:25. | :10:28. | |
contrary, "no". I think the ayes habits. -- have it. Who will bring | :10:29. | :10:35. | |
in the Bill? Criminal driving justice for victims | :10:36. | :11:19. | |
Bill. Second reading what today Friday the 11th of March. Friday the | :11:20. | :11:27. | |
11th of March. Thank you. Order The clerk will now proceed to rdad the | :11:28. | :11:32. | |
orders of the day. Housing `nd land in Bill is amended in committee to | :11:33. | :11:41. | |
beat further considered. We begin with Emmett 131 which with ht it | :11:42. | :11:47. | |
will be convenient to consider the other amendments and new cl`uses | :11:48. | :11:51. | |
listed on the selection papdr will stop to move amendment 1301H call | :11:52. | :11:59. | |
doctor Roberta Blackman Woods. Thank you very much. I would just say at | :12:00. | :12:06. | |
the beginning to the Ministdr that it is a pity we are dealing with the | :12:07. | :12:15. | |
four most contentious aspects of this bill. I think it is a real pity | :12:16. | :12:20. | |
that the Government did not accept our alterations to the programme | :12:21. | :12:23. | |
motion which would have madd it a bit more sensible. I am going to | :12:24. | :12:32. | |
begin by looking at the valte of social housing. We tabled a number | :12:33. | :12:37. | |
of amendments to chapter two on a range of issues relating to the for | :12:38. | :12:42. | |
sale. And then the 92 would ensure the replacement of property locally | :12:43. | :12:48. | |
and ensure that that is included in legislation. And then there's 9 and | :12:49. | :12:54. | |
94 would give local authorities more agency over defining high-v`lue and | :12:55. | :13:00. | |
limit the amount of houses sold in a particular area to 10% of their | :13:01. | :13:09. | |
stock. -- amendments 93 and 94. I want you to challenge her gdntly on | :13:10. | :13:18. | |
her comments. -- and wanted to challenge her. And the we agreed to | :13:19. | :13:25. | |
the changes be asked for. Wd voted against the programme motion. An | :13:26. | :13:29. | |
amendment 53 safeguards replacement of like-for-like housing and that it | :13:30. | :13:35. | |
will not exceed... Any homes sold will not exceed the sale value of | :13:36. | :13:42. | |
the original property. Cert`in types of specialist housing from | :13:43. | :13:44. | |
high-value determination. However, due to the extremely limited time | :13:45. | :13:47. | |
today I did not want to spe`k in detail on these particular | :13:48. | :13:53. | |
amendments. I am going to focus on amendments 131 to 141 which would | :13:54. | :13:59. | |
leave out all the clauses in chapter two, effectively removing it from | :14:00. | :14:03. | |
the bill. Labour members ard not against local authorities m`king | :14:04. | :14:06. | |
sensible decisions about thdir assets. However, that is not what | :14:07. | :14:10. | |
the clauses in this chapter of the bill would do. It will forcd local | :14:11. | :14:15. | |
authorities to sell off much-needed council housing even when they have | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
huge waiting list. The estate manager of Quaker Court stated that | :14:21. | :14:24. | |
many council halls of London in places like Quaker court ard likely | :14:25. | :14:27. | |
to be deemed high-value bec`use this is where -- and this is where | :14:28. | :14:34. | |
governmental legislation will have the most severe impact. Of course it | :14:35. | :14:40. | |
is not just the loss of council properties in high-value ardas. The | :14:41. | :14:44. | |
impact of this policy would surely be for those properties to love into | :14:45. | :14:50. | |
the privately rented sector, meaning that the housing benefit bill is | :14:51. | :14:54. | |
likely to increase for the same properties to be rented out. Indeed. | :14:55. | :15:01. | |
My honourable friend makes `n additional point about how truly | :15:02. | :15:08. | |
appalling and indeed nonsensical this particular policy is. The point | :15:09. | :15:12. | |
he makes is what I hope to come to later. He says this is about as | :15:13. | :15:16. | |
high-value and area as you're going to find. Every time we get `n empty | :15:17. | :15:21. | |
council flat, instead of th`t going to the next person on a council | :15:22. | :15:27. | |
waiting list, and particularly in Islington which has 18,000 people on | :15:28. | :15:30. | |
it, it is going to be sold hn the private market. There has bden real | :15:31. | :15:38. | |
concern expressed that the Government's expectation of the | :15:39. | :15:44. | |
number of houses to be built as a result of selling off high-value | :15:45. | :15:48. | |
housing is much too high. It says the Government appears to h`ve | :15:49. | :15:51. | |
vastly overestimated the nulber of homes that have become vacant that | :15:52. | :15:56. | |
might be defined within the local authority area and that intdrval | :15:57. | :15:59. | |
have a negative impact on the replacement of sold off homds by | :16:00. | :16:05. | |
housing associations. The Chief Executive the chartered Institute of | :16:06. | :16:07. | |
Housing stressed that more funding needs to be made available for | :16:08. | :16:14. | |
affordable housing. Full compensation for housing | :16:15. | :16:17. | |
associations will be absolutely vital if they are going to be able | :16:18. | :16:20. | |
to build more affordable holes for people who cannot afford to buy the | :16:21. | :16:25. | |
stop and they say that extr` funding is needed. There is concern | :16:26. | :16:33. | |
provisions in this chapter of the Bill will lead to less council | :16:34. | :16:37. | |
housing being available, and with such replacement housing th`t | :16:38. | :16:41. | |
doesn't materialise being ott of the financial reach of many, many | :16:42. | :16:46. | |
people. We know that housing waiting lists will become longer, pdople | :16:47. | :16:52. | |
will be forced to stay in tdmporary accommodation for longer, which of | :16:53. | :16:56. | |
course will mean a greater cost to local taxpayers. Councils whll have | :16:57. | :17:02. | |
less incentive to invest in stock as it may boost the value abovd the | :17:03. | :17:07. | |
arbitrator shall. Moreover the reduction in the number of social | :17:08. | :17:12. | |
homes available will intenshfy competition for private rented | :17:13. | :17:15. | |
sector rose at the bottom of the market, driving up rents. Isn't the | :17:16. | :17:23. | |
concerned is the oral context of Government policy? -- to sed this in | :17:24. | :17:31. | |
the context? It'll be very difficult for most housing associations to | :17:32. | :17:36. | |
replace their sold propertids on a like-for-like basis. I can burn to | :17:37. | :17:38. | |
the select committee yesterday there is no new money at all in the | :17:39. | :17:44. | |
comments said spending revidw for social housing. At the end of this | :17:45. | :17:48. | |
parliament there almost certainly be fewer council homes to rent than | :17:49. | :17:56. | |
there are now. My honourabld friend makes an excellent point and one we | :17:57. | :17:59. | |
want to emphasise this afternoon. There is not additional mondy to | :18:00. | :18:05. | |
provide the replacement affordable housing and as we want to dhscuss, | :18:06. | :18:09. | |
there are no provisions in this bill to allow for a like-for-likd | :18:10. | :18:13. | |
replacement for homes sold off and on the same local authority. So the | :18:14. | :18:17. | |
chapter is damaging not onlx to those who housing, but it whll have | :18:18. | :18:22. | |
a negative knock-on effect hn the private sector, meaning there is | :18:23. | :18:30. | |
simply no respite for a bowling ham -- low income families. The | :18:31. | :18:37. | |
Government must reconsider this section of the bell and takd this | :18:38. | :18:42. | |
chapter out of it. She talkdd about the impact on homelessness. If you | :18:43. | :18:47. | |
think it is also the case that there are probably across the country | :18:48. | :18:52. | |
millions of families in housing need waiting for appropriate | :18:53. | :18:57. | |
accommodation. It constituent I met last week has two children `nd lives | :18:58. | :19:01. | |
in a one-bedroom flat, and one of the children had skin cancer. The | :19:02. | :19:04. | |
waiting desperately for a two-bedroom. You should get a | :19:05. | :19:09. | |
property? A person in that property need or somebody who could H on the | :19:10. | :19:15. | |
open market? My honourable friend makes a truly brilliant point and | :19:16. | :19:22. | |
one that we need to reflect on in the chamber this afternoon. That is | :19:23. | :19:26. | |
what many councils are tellhng us, that they have thousands of people | :19:27. | :19:29. | |
on the waiting list and yet what this measure will do is redtce | :19:30. | :19:33. | |
further the homes that will be available to them. Moving on quickly | :19:34. | :19:39. | |
to the page to state provishons of this bell in chapter four of part | :19:40. | :19:45. | |
four. Again as the minister will be aware we have tabled a numbdr of | :19:46. | :19:49. | |
amendments to chapter for trying to make the EPA to stay provishons more | :19:50. | :20:03. | |
palatable. An amendment 95 ,- we want to ensure the system whll be | :20:04. | :20:09. | |
tapered. Amendment 50 that the insurable laboratories and housing | :20:10. | :20:15. | |
associations take into accotnt a degree of diversity and sochal | :20:16. | :20:21. | |
cohesion in their communitids. Amendment 59 insurers remit -- | :20:22. | :20:32. | |
ensures rents remain afford`ble And MS 96 and 61 both look to ghve some | :20:33. | :20:39. | |
notice of protection should tenants be moved on to higher rent, with | :20:40. | :20:45. | |
amendment 96 giving tenants transitional protection and time to | :20:46. | :20:49. | |
enable them to relocate to `nother party if that is at all possible. | :20:50. | :20:54. | |
Amendment 61 would establish the high income rent would only apply to | :20:55. | :20:58. | |
new tenants and that they would be giving a new tenancy agreemdnts | :20:59. | :21:03. | |
Other amendments are designdd to ensure that what is considered to be | :21:04. | :21:07. | |
high income is based on loc`l realities and a multiple of median | :21:08. | :21:12. | |
income. But again, the lack of time the bill has been afforded together | :21:13. | :21:16. | |
with the incredibly unfair nature of these clauses means I will be for | :21:17. | :21:24. | |
her thing on amendments 144 to 50 and 152 to 153. -- I will bd | :21:25. | :21:29. | |
focusing. We are not necess`rily against a gradation in red paint, | :21:30. | :21:34. | |
but we do not think the pagd to stay proposals that remain in thd bill | :21:35. | :21:40. | |
are in anyway acceptable. -, a gradation in rent paid. The | :21:41. | :21:46. | |
proposals will hit people on modest incomes heart is. It is simply a | :21:47. | :21:51. | |
continuation of the Governmdnt's assault on council tenants. Local | :21:52. | :22:00. | |
authorities and housing associations already have the discretion to | :22:01. | :22:03. | |
charge higher income tenants higher rents. I give way. Have Westminster | :22:04. | :22:11. | |
Council not let the cat out of the bag on pay to stay with eight | :22:12. | :22:18. | |
leaflet they distributed last week on a guide to the right to buy | :22:19. | :22:22. | |
social mobility fund which stated, under Government proposals, | :22:23. | :22:26. | |
households with an income greater than ?40,000 will pay subst`ntially | :22:27. | :22:30. | |
increased rent. This is an opportunity to avoid this and become | :22:31. | :22:35. | |
a homeowner. If paid to stax not about driving home ownership rather | :22:36. | :22:41. | |
than actually reflecting income in rents policy? I think my honourable | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
friend makes a really relev`nt point about these particular proposals. | :22:47. | :22:50. | |
Why is the Government now ilposing the scheme on councils if it is not | :22:51. | :22:56. | |
to punish council tenants, `nd what have we done to deserve this unique | :22:57. | :22:58. | |
vitriol The threshold as it stands `s 3 ,000 | :22:59. | :23:09. | |
per household in London at ?30, 00 rattled outside London. This would | :23:10. | :23:13. | |
hit people in the Chancellor's new minimum wage, something most people | :23:14. | :23:17. | |
would think is quite disgraceful. The policy will hit those working in | :23:18. | :23:22. | |
low paid jobs the artists and that's where it will have the most | :23:23. | :23:26. | |
devastating effect. I will give way. Thank you. One of the examples that | :23:27. | :23:33. | |
has been given to me is that you can have a tenant who has been offered a | :23:34. | :23:37. | |
promotion at work but has ddcided to turn that down because of the | :23:38. | :23:41. | |
consequential impact on an hnk used read these proposals will ghve. Is | :23:42. | :23:45. | |
this not mean this will put an attack on aspiration? Absolttely. I | :23:46. | :23:51. | |
could not agree with my honourable friend more. I think it is `n attack | :23:52. | :23:59. | |
on aspiration, leaving some families with really impossible choices. As | :24:00. | :24:05. | |
Tony Stacey, chair of shippdrs which represents 100 housing associations | :24:06. | :24:08. | |
said, this policy conflicts with the Government's record on getthng - | :24:09. | :24:14. | |
sorry, the Government's deshre on getting be going to better paid work | :24:15. | :24:19. | |
and said it a bit perverse compared to the Government's other policies | :24:20. | :24:23. | |
of getting to me -- wanted to make work pay. It would seem that if the | :24:24. | :24:28. | |
policy goes ahead in people who are paid more for additional work | :24:29. | :24:33. | |
undertaken off promotion cotld face a sudden increase in rent or | :24:34. | :24:39. | |
eviction. It's interesting to see the Government caved to pressure | :24:40. | :24:41. | |
from housing associations and has removed the degree of compulsion | :24:42. | :24:45. | |
from them, but that only me`ns council talents to tennis are being | :24:46. | :24:51. | |
singled out for the application of these extraordinary measures and as | :24:52. | :24:57. | |
councils are saying these p`rticular provisions are unworkable in any | :24:58. | :25:00. | |
case, could the Minister thhs afternoon explained us why he has | :25:01. | :25:06. | |
insisted that they should rdmain for council tenants. If we move on | :25:07. | :25:12. | |
quickly, Mr Speaker, I will give way. Thank you. Is the honotrable | :25:13. | :25:18. | |
lady seriously suggesting to the house that people should receive | :25:19. | :25:23. | |
heavily soft of eyes that exercise housing even if they are in very | :25:24. | :25:28. | |
high incomes? As I think we did our best to explain to the honotrable | :25:29. | :25:36. | |
gentleman, it's often not stbsidised and the point we are making is that | :25:37. | :25:41. | |
councils already have the dhscretion to apply a higher rents for higher | :25:42. | :25:46. | |
incomes if they choose to do so What we are querying this afternoon | :25:47. | :25:49. | |
is why the Government is introducing an element of compulsion and for | :25:50. | :25:59. | |
council tenants only? Moving on Mr Speaker, I will give way brhefly. We | :26:00. | :26:04. | |
want to kill this myth about the size cattle housing Housing review | :26:05. | :26:08. | |
account under the basis of which this Government change the rules | :26:09. | :26:11. | |
following the proposals frol the previous Government, are self | :26:12. | :26:14. | |
funding. There is no subsidx, the only subsidy around is right to buy | :26:15. | :26:19. | |
goods discount at a starter home discuss the Government is proposing. | :26:20. | :26:27. | |
-- soccer mum discount. I think my honourable friend has won that | :26:28. | :26:34. | |
particular round of the deb`te. So shocking is part five of ch`pter | :26:35. | :26:37. | |
four that we have simply tabled amendments to remove all of it from | :26:38. | :26:42. | |
the bill. We have tabled amdndments to leave out both clauses 88 and 90 | :26:43. | :26:50. | |
and the schedules that relates them. We see no value in amending the bill | :26:51. | :26:54. | |
as we can only be of the Met -- ending a security of tenure the | :26:55. | :26:58. | |
council tenants for what it would be, one of the greatest travesties | :26:59. | :27:02. | |
to the future of affordable housing in this country and the onlx | :27:03. | :27:07. | |
position we can adopt is to ask for it to be taken out of the Bhll | :27:08. | :27:11. | |
entirely. Three decades frol now when are grandchildren are looking | :27:12. | :27:14. | |
back on the decisions of Ar`b generation concerning housing, their | :27:15. | :27:20. | |
social mobility will have ddclined a bit with previous generations. - of | :27:21. | :27:24. | |
our generation. Despite what David Cameron might think of the | :27:25. | :27:29. | |
instability of this Governmdnt policy creating. Having a stable | :27:30. | :27:32. | |
home to grow up in is cruci`l for working families whose incole barely | :27:33. | :27:36. | |
affords them an adequate st`ndard of living. Children should not be faced | :27:37. | :27:39. | |
with the threat of having to change schools every two - five ye`rs when | :27:40. | :27:45. | |
the council was forced to rdview the tenancy contracts of their parents. | :27:46. | :27:50. | |
This could have disastrous dffects on their education. Like a number of | :27:51. | :27:54. | |
colleagues, I was brought up in a council house and thus was `ble to | :27:55. | :27:58. | |
acquire better educational opportunities than my parents as a | :27:59. | :28:03. | |
result of growing up in a stable home with security of tenurd. We | :28:04. | :28:08. | |
want to ensure that option dxists for families who needed tod`y. Yet | :28:09. | :28:13. | |
the Government is removing the most basic protection for tenants that | :28:14. | :28:18. | |
has existed in Arab country for decades, that council housing would | :28:19. | :28:22. | |
be provided by local authorhties to secure rented homes for people on | :28:23. | :28:26. | |
low incomes. -- in our country. And that those would be of a good | :28:27. | :28:30. | |
quality. The Government needs to stop a cat -- attacking council | :28:31. | :28:35. | |
tenants. I thought we had cross-party agreement to cotncil | :28:36. | :28:38. | |
housing sector should not only be valued but that measure shotld be | :28:39. | :28:43. | |
put in place to enhance its attractiveness and availability | :28:44. | :28:45. | |
rather than being attacked hn the way in which we see in this bill. In | :28:46. | :28:52. | |
1979, 40 2% of Britain's le`ding council houses, now it is ldss than | :28:53. | :28:56. | |
8%. Government investment in social rented housing was cut by two thirds | :28:57. | :29:00. | |
when the Coalition Government came into power. While the Government | :29:01. | :29:05. | |
pledged a 1-1 placement for every home that was sold under thd right | :29:06. | :29:09. | |
to buy, the latest figures show that for every nine homes being sold all | :29:10. | :29:14. | |
me one is being replaced. The Government is wrong in its | :29:15. | :29:17. | |
assumption that Carizza Ter`n - tenants with security of tenure can | :29:18. | :29:22. | |
afford to buy a home or livd elsewhere. In recent study found | :29:23. | :29:25. | |
that 91% of homes in England and Wales were unaffordable to | :29:26. | :29:30. | |
home-buyers, even in some areas where they are the national average | :29:31. | :29:36. | |
income of 26 and a half thotsand. Local authorities under the localism | :29:37. | :29:39. | |
act of 2011 already have thd ability to offer flexible tendencies if they | :29:40. | :29:47. | |
so choose. Again, I would stress to the Minister and his colleagues on | :29:48. | :29:57. | |
the front bench opposite, why the degree of compulsion and whx attack | :29:58. | :30:02. | |
council housing tenants in this way? Recently a woman living in ` council | :30:03. | :30:06. | |
house in London told the Gu`rdian, in the long run, London needs as | :30:07. | :30:10. | |
service workers as much as we need London. Most of us will not be able | :30:11. | :30:15. | |
to survive the current rent`l prices. We are no longer able to | :30:16. | :30:20. | |
share, no longer of the age, I will give way in a minute. We ard no | :30:21. | :30:23. | |
longer of an age where we c`n share a flat with ten other peopld, this | :30:24. | :30:28. | |
is a shift in the goalposts that believe people like me in a | :30:29. | :30:34. | |
desperate conditions and I give way. My honourable friend mentioned a | :30:35. | :30:39. | |
lady working in London who hs concerned about people like her for | :30:40. | :30:46. | |
the economic reasons. Is my honourable friend aware of the | :30:47. | :30:53. | |
concerns of the housing crisis as it is iterative by the London Gimber of | :30:54. | :30:56. | |
commerce and industry saying that the housing crisis in London is | :30:57. | :30:59. | |
affecting London's economy `s well as, as we know, the human cost of | :31:00. | :31:08. | |
the housing crisis in London? My honourable friend makes an dxcellent | :31:09. | :31:12. | |
point and it is one that we have pointed out to the Minister on a | :31:13. | :31:14. | |
number of occasions and provided some evidence to him at comlittee | :31:15. | :31:19. | |
stage of the bill. If I movd an to the final section on the right to | :31:20. | :31:25. | |
buy. I give way to a honour`ble friend. I thank my honourable friend | :31:26. | :31:30. | |
forgiving way and she is making a powerful case. She rightly lentions | :31:31. | :31:35. | |
London, as do a number of colleagues because this is an acute issue. Is | :31:36. | :31:39. | |
she not also concerned this is an issue up and down the country and | :31:40. | :31:44. | |
the Government's approaches making a sham of their promise to support | :31:45. | :31:50. | |
localism when the riding Russia over the ability of local guides us to | :31:51. | :31:53. | |
use discretion in this important area? Indeed. I think, I totally | :31:54. | :32:02. | |
agree with my honourable frhend and I am really pleased that shd has | :32:03. | :32:06. | |
reminded me that we need to ensure that we look at the provisions of | :32:07. | :32:09. | |
this section of the Bill and how they affect council tenants and | :32:10. | :32:12. | |
local authorities up and down the country. Labour has tabled | :32:13. | :32:19. | |
amendments to chapter one of part four to try and limit the ndgative | :32:20. | :32:23. | |
impact of the rights to buy provisions, amendment 88 wotld look | :32:24. | :32:27. | |
to protect certain types of specialised housing and amendment 89 | :32:28. | :32:31. | |
would acquire housing situation is offering the right to buy it to | :32:32. | :32:35. | |
their tenants in London and elsewhere to reinvest all of the | :32:36. | :32:39. | |
money in replacement afford`ble housing, including a guarantee to | :32:40. | :32:43. | |
like-for-like warns in the same local authority area or London | :32:44. | :32:47. | |
borough and that is an amendment that is mixed together with the | :32:48. | :32:52. | |
honourable member for tooting. We have also tabled amendments that | :32:53. | :32:54. | |
would prevent property sold under the right to buy to be convdrted | :32:55. | :33:00. | |
into buy to let dwellings for a period of ten years and to dnsure | :33:01. | :33:04. | |
the discount from homes sold on to the right to buy remains in | :33:05. | :33:08. | |
perpetuity and that housing associations are able to carry out | :33:09. | :33:13. | |
proper checks before proceeding with the right to buy. Yet again we find | :33:14. | :33:17. | |
ourselves stretched for Thahland facing a chapter that has the | :33:18. | :33:23. | |
potential to decimate the housing sector. As Max transfer timd and | :33:24. | :33:30. | |
facing. Shelter has estimatd is a red 113,000 homes could be lost | :33:31. | :33:32. | |
immediately through the provisions in the bill and the IMF has said | :33:33. | :33:37. | |
that due to the schemes's ctrrent vagueness and the coalition's less | :33:38. | :33:41. | |
than impressive record in ddlivering replacement housing under the right | :33:42. | :33:45. | |
to buy, there is a risk that these policies will lead to a further | :33:46. | :33:48. | |
depletion of the social housing stock. What seems to have complete | :33:49. | :33:53. | |
consensus across the housing sector is that there is no guarantde for | :33:54. | :33:58. | |
like-for-like replacement for homes that are sold under the right to | :33:59. | :34:02. | |
buy. Of course, the Minister will tell me they are guaranteeing there | :34:03. | :34:07. | |
will be a 2-1 placement for affordable housing, but that needs | :34:08. | :34:12. | |
closer inspection. The Government's new definition for affordable | :34:13. | :34:16. | |
housing contained in new cl`use 31 include starter homes, which can be | :34:17. | :34:23. | |
up to ?250,000 outside London and 450,000 in the capital. Meaning that | :34:24. | :34:26. | |
a housing association home sold onto the right to buy but can be | :34:27. | :34:32. | |
considered to have been replaced by another house or another to homes | :34:33. | :34:37. | |
that will be for sale at up to a quarter of ?1 million or allost half | :34:38. | :34:44. | |
?1 million in London, this hs not replacing like-for-like in `ny terms | :34:45. | :34:47. | |
of the imagination. I give way to my honourable friend. Can I th`nk my | :34:48. | :34:53. | |
honourable friend forgiving way The definition of affordable holes has | :34:54. | :34:57. | |
been described by one honourable member of this house as elastic and | :34:58. | :35:01. | |
misleading. Would she agree that definition of injuries by the | :35:02. | :35:08. | |
honourable member for Richmond, correctness and being a deldgate | :35:09. | :35:16. | |
this week. My honourable frhend makes an excellent point and I think | :35:17. | :35:23. | |
what we are trying to bring to the debate this afternoon is th`t the | :35:24. | :35:29. | |
Government's proposals do not bring about a like-for-like replacement in | :35:30. | :35:34. | |
terms of the right to buy provisions of this bill and, indeed, h`ving one | :35:35. | :35:45. | |
home for social rent taken `way and two very Spencer for Mr Byers the | :35:46. | :35:48. | |
replacement does not seem to add up to a sensible policy to most people. | :35:49. | :35:57. | |
I think again we know the Government wants to push up the weights of | :35:58. | :36:00. | |
homeownership, we too think there should be measures to promote | :36:01. | :36:05. | |
homeownership but we do not think they should, the expense of the | :36:06. | :36:12. | |
social red to the Merc renddring sector or local authority sdctor | :36:13. | :36:15. | |
either. I will give way to ly honourable friend. -- social renting | :36:16. | :36:23. | |
sector. The idea that a ?450,00 homes for sale can replace socially | :36:24. | :36:27. | |
rented homes and do so not hn the same area, which as I understand | :36:28. | :36:31. | |
from what the honourable melber for Richmond Park told the new Journal | :36:32. | :36:35. | |
last week, he may wish to clarify that point, but getting rid of | :36:36. | :36:38. | |
council homes in inner London to replace them with homes for sale | :36:39. | :36:42. | |
advanced inflated prices in outer London or beyond it is unacceptable. | :36:43. | :36:49. | |
-- at a vastly inflated. I totally agree with my honourable frhend and | :36:50. | :36:54. | |
I agree what we are attempthng to do is show how unappealing the measures | :36:55. | :36:57. | |
are that have been put forw`rd from the honourable gentleman for | :36:58. | :37:02. | |
arrangements but also how the simply will not tackle the problem and | :37:03. | :37:08. | |
Londoners. Mr Speaker, part for this bill is nothing but an attack on | :37:09. | :37:11. | |
council housing on council tenants who have already suffered under the | :37:12. | :37:16. | |
Government's bedroom tax and customs services, adding the biggest day | :37:17. | :37:19. | |
provisions and reducing the stock available for allowing -- for rent | :37:20. | :37:23. | |
amounts to a full-blown att`ck by the council housing sector `nd | :37:24. | :37:27. | |
housing associations do not fare much better as the right to buy | :37:28. | :37:30. | |
could deplete their stock whthout adequate replacement. Is a further | :37:31. | :37:34. | |
attack on people on low incomes and most worryingly of all, will do very | :37:35. | :37:39. | |
little and almost nothing to attack the housing crisis and addrdss the | :37:40. | :37:42. | |
housing crisis that so many people are facing. We would like to remove | :37:43. | :37:47. | |
most of part four of the bill, but simply don't have the time for the | :37:48. | :37:51. | |
votes that would be needed to do so. As an indicator of our great | :37:52. | :37:55. | |
displeasure, we are going to move, when it's appropriate, clause 1 22 | :37:56. | :38:03. | |
to a vote. And removing amendment 80 nine. What we are calling on the | :38:04. | :38:07. | |
whole house to do is to rejdct this awful bill later today. | :38:08. | :38:09. | |
The question is that the amdndment be made. Nicola Blackwood. H shan't | :38:10. | :38:20. | |
detain the House long, I'm not sure anyone will hear me. I know that my | :38:21. | :38:24. | |
constituents will expect me to raise the exceptional challenges of the | :38:25. | :38:29. | |
Central Oxfordshire Housing Market. There are many measures in this Bill | :38:30. | :38:41. | |
will be welcomed locally. This raft of policies to build more affordable | :38:42. | :38:45. | |
houses, though commendable, are not enough. These houses do need to be | :38:46. | :38:50. | |
built in areas that need thdm the most. The high cost areas are either | :38:51. | :39:01. | |
where growth is the highest or where markets and sites are hard to come | :39:02. | :39:05. | |
by. In some areas like Oxford, both is happening and high growth is | :39:06. | :39:09. | |
becoming constrained by failing local housing markets. I know many | :39:10. | :39:13. | |
colleagues have local difficulties with housing so I will expl`in our | :39:14. | :39:20. | |
challenges briefly. Median full time earnings are now ?26,500 in Oxford. | :39:21. | :39:28. | |
House prices are 16 times the earnings of the average worker. The | :39:29. | :39:34. | |
Centre for Cities Analysis has found that Oxford to be the least | :39:35. | :39:40. | |
affordable city in England. The number of people who own thdir own | :39:41. | :39:44. | |
home in Oxford is well below the national average. Median prhvate | :39:45. | :39:48. | |
rent is ?300 a week, which hs over half of median earnings. And 30 of | :39:49. | :39:54. | |
residents rent compared to 25% in London. The House of Commons Library | :39:55. | :40:00. | |
has found that Oxford City Council delivered zero affordable homes in | :40:01. | :40:06. | |
2013/14 and only 20 in 2014/15. They rank as the fourth worst in the | :40:07. | :40:11. | |
country for delivering of housing of any tenure. We will require in | :40:12. | :40:17. | |
Oxford 1,400 homes to be delivered each year until 2031. Now, we do | :40:18. | :40:22. | |
have lots of specific local problems. We have relativelx few | :40:23. | :40:28. | |
brownfield sites. And we have all sorts of challenges in terms of | :40:29. | :40:33. | |
two-thirds of land being in private ownership which does complicate | :40:34. | :40:37. | |
active public managership. The city has a relatively low-densitx and | :40:38. | :40:40. | |
to the amount of protected `nd to the amount of protected `nd | :40:41. | :40:46. | |
listed buildings. The city has 00 hectares of greenbelt land within | :40:47. | :40:50. | |
the local authority. Nevertheless, when we compare Oxford with | :40:51. | :40:53. | |
Cambridge, which I think is a reasonable comparison, Cambridge | :40:54. | :40:59. | |
provided 550 affordable homds in 2013/14 and 320 in 2014/15. I think | :41:00. | :41:03. | |
it is reasonable for us to call for more to be done. This is catsing | :41:04. | :41:08. | |
significant problems to our local private and public sector. One in | :41:09. | :41:16. | |
two senior academic appointlents fail due to the housing crisis. 30% | :41:17. | :41:26. | |
of local businesses cite hotsing costs as their top barrier to | :41:27. | :41:29. | |
recruitment. The failure to build homes where they are needed by | :41:30. | :41:33. | |
cities constrains growth. This matters to the national economy as | :41:34. | :41:36. | |
well because these cities are the most productive and have thd most | :41:37. | :41:40. | |
jobs. When people cannot afford to live in them, they cannot access | :41:41. | :41:43. | |
these jobs, businesses cannot sell to them and the economy suffers We | :41:44. | :41:48. | |
aren't getting this right ydt. Between 2008 and 2013 there were | :41:49. | :41:53. | |
more homes built in Barnslex t second most affordable city in Great | :41:54. | :41:57. | |
Britain, in which to buy given local incomes, than in London or Oxford, | :41:58. | :42:01. | |
the least affordable cities. More of these homes need to be built where | :42:02. | :42:05. | |
affordability is lowest and where demand is highest in our most | :42:06. | :42:10. | |
successful cities. In justifying Government Amendment 112, and | :42:11. | :42:14. | |
acknowledging the exception`lism of the London housing market, the | :42:15. | :42:17. | |
Minister has accepted that housing in Britain's most economically | :42:18. | :42:21. | |
successful cities is the le`st affordable and that we need policies | :42:22. | :42:25. | |
which target our affordable housing building efforts to our least | :42:26. | :42:29. | |
affordable areas. It is little more than common-sense but all of us have | :42:30. | :42:33. | |
known too many occasions whdn common-sense has fallen by the | :42:34. | :42:37. | |
wayside in our legislative process. Amendment 112 will ensure that | :42:38. | :42:41. | |
enough receipts from the sale of high value homes go to the GLA for | :42:42. | :42:45. | |
them to build two affordabld homes for every one sold. Obviously, the | :42:46. | :42:50. | |
receipts left with the GLA will have to be of sufficiently high value to | :42:51. | :42:55. | |
ensure that. I'm pleased for Londoners and I congratulatd the | :42:56. | :42:59. | |
honourable Member for Richmond Mark in his efforts to secure thhs very | :43:00. | :43:03. | |
important measure for Londoners This is possible for Londondrs | :43:04. | :43:07. | |
largely because house prices are so high and there are huge amotnts of | :43:08. | :43:11. | |
money generated for sale, so it is easy to fund two for one without | :43:12. | :43:14. | |
putting too big a dent in the revenue stream going to central | :43:15. | :43:20. | |
government. In my view, which is unsurprising, given my bias towards | :43:21. | :43:25. | |
Oxford, this should apply to other high-value areas like Oxford, Bath | :43:26. | :43:29. | |
and St Albans. This is how ht might work in our case. My understanding | :43:30. | :43:33. | |
is that around 12% of counchl homes in Oxford would be deemed as | :43:34. | :43:37. | |
high-value and so the counchl would be under a duty to consider selling | :43:38. | :43:42. | |
them when they become vacant. This works out at 29 homes a year to be | :43:43. | :43:49. | |
sold. Our estimates suggests that 29 council homes sold on the open | :43:50. | :43:52. | |
market each year would generate ?8.6 million in receipts so a sililar two | :43:53. | :43:58. | |
for one provision would provide would ensure that ?8.6 millhon stays | :43:59. | :44:03. | |
with the Council for them to provide two extra units for every one sold. | :44:04. | :44:10. | |
Say each high-value council home for ?293,000 each which means ?8.9 | :44:11. | :44:15. | |
million is divided into 21. There would be enough going to central | :44:16. | :44:19. | |
government but we would be `ble to provide two for one for Oxford. | :44:20. | :44:27. | |
Amendment 112 (6) gives the Secretary of State the power, which | :44:28. | :44:34. | |
the honourable Member for Rhchmond Park has so valiantly provided for | :44:35. | :44:39. | |
London. That has been writtdn explicitly into the Bill. Stch an | :44:40. | :44:44. | |
exception would be essential for Oxford to ensure we have affordable | :44:45. | :44:49. | |
housing but I remain to be convinced this power will be sufficient to | :44:50. | :44:53. | |
ensure it is delivered following the challenges we have had. The median | :44:54. | :45:05. | |
house price in St Albans is ?392,000. I share her concerns how | :45:06. | :45:11. | |
deliverable it is. We are rhght in areas that suffer similarly with | :45:12. | :45:13. | |
high prices like London to push for it. I hope the Minister takds that | :45:14. | :45:19. | |
into account today. I thank the honourable lady for her intdrvention | :45:20. | :45:23. | |
and I agree with her that the Minister has been very generous in | :45:24. | :45:26. | |
the time that he has taken to discuss with us, and I'm gr`teful to | :45:27. | :45:29. | |
him for offering to have medtings with us to discuss how we c`n | :45:30. | :45:36. | |
implement the measures in 102 ( ) to ensure these measures will deliver | :45:37. | :45:41. | |
for areas like Oxford and other high-cost areas to ensure this | :45:42. | :45:45. | |
commitment will be implemented as a matter of urgency and will `ctually | :45:46. | :45:49. | |
work in practice for areas like mine where residents do face a gdnuine | :45:50. | :45:54. | |
housing crisis and do face genuine hardship on a daily basis. @long | :45:55. | :45:59. | |
with colleagues from high-cost areas like Bath and Cambridge and St | :46:00. | :46:03. | |
Albans, we are clear if necdssary, we will look to the Lords to ensure | :46:04. | :46:07. | |
that these measures do deliver for our constituents because we are | :46:08. | :46:10. | |
clear that affordable housing does need to be targeted to high,cost | :46:11. | :46:14. | |
areas where we face the highest challenges in the country. Thank | :46:15. | :46:25. | |
you, Mr Speaker. I rise to speak in favour of Amendment 89 in mx name | :46:26. | :46:30. | |
and in the name of my honourable friend, the Member for Wentworth, | :46:31. | :46:34. | |
and other honourable friends. Colleagues will forgive me `nd I | :46:35. | :46:39. | |
hope understand if I focus ly comments on London. Mr Speaker, the | :46:40. | :46:45. | |
Bill before us will do nothhng to help solve the housing crishs facing | :46:46. | :46:55. | |
London. In fact, on balance - somebody has heckled describing the | :46:56. | :47:00. | |
Bill as "rubbish". In fact, on balance, the likelihood is ht will | :47:01. | :47:05. | |
make the crisis even worse. As a result, London's famed soci`l mix is | :47:06. | :47:10. | |
under threat. Many parts of inner London could be hollowed out with | :47:11. | :47:14. | |
the city becoming the preserve of the very rich. And don't just take | :47:15. | :47:19. | |
my word for it. When the Government published this Bill, the he`ding in | :47:20. | :47:24. | |
the Evening Standard editorhal was "don't lose social homes to fund | :47:25. | :47:31. | |
right to buy". I kept a copx of the newspaper from the day. The | :47:32. | :47:36. | |
editorial said, "The most sdrious objection to the Government's | :47:37. | :47:40. | |
proposal to allow housing association tenants to buy their | :47:41. | :47:45. | |
homes at a discount is that its effect would be to diminish the | :47:46. | :47:50. | |
amount of social housing in London at a time when demand is | :47:51. | :47:55. | |
increasing." To fund the discount, councils would be obliged to sell | :47:56. | :48:00. | |
off higher-priced council homes and given the level of property prices | :48:01. | :48:07. | |
in London, this could potentially be disastrous in its effects. The | :48:08. | :48:15. | |
Evening Standard editorial. I will give way. He is quite right to quote | :48:16. | :48:25. | |
the Evening Standard. For m`ny inner London authorities it means the | :48:26. | :48:31. | |
majority of their council stock would be sold. That is what the | :48:32. | :48:39. | |
Government intends. I have spent a lot of time visiting all 32 boroughs | :48:40. | :48:52. | |
in London this morning. I w`s in Camden this morning. Mr Spe`ker | :48:53. | :48:59. | |
nobody is against the aspir`tion of homeownership, but changes hn this | :49:00. | :49:02. | |
Bill are required even at this late stage in order to minimise the | :49:03. | :49:09. | |
impact on London. That is why I have tabled and supported amendmdnts to | :49:10. | :49:12. | |
the Bill all of which to date the Government have opposed. I `m hoping | :49:13. | :49:17. | |
for the sake of Londoners this changes today. Mr Speaker, @mendment | :49:18. | :49:23. | |
89 is the like-for-like replacement amendment. It would say to housing | :49:24. | :49:28. | |
associations across the country if you are going to go ahead whth right | :49:29. | :49:33. | |
to buy, you have to spend the money raised from the sale locallx on | :49:34. | :49:38. | |
replacement, affordable housing By the way, it's been estimated that | :49:39. | :49:44. | |
the sell-off could lead to over ?800 million a year being lost from | :49:45. | :49:48. | |
London unless there are proper guarantees put in place to keep | :49:49. | :49:52. | |
these receipts in London. At this point, I'd say to the House, be wary | :49:53. | :50:00. | |
of imitations. Other members, other honourable members, are tryhng to | :50:01. | :50:04. | |
fool Londoners by saying thdir amendment to the Bill will protect | :50:05. | :50:08. | |
the city's affordable homes. I refer, of course to Amendment 1 2, | :50:09. | :50:13. | |
in the name of the Secretarx of State, but which cosily the Prime | :50:14. | :50:17. | |
Minister and the honourable Member for Richmond Park announced last | :50:18. | :50:25. | |
week. Whilst we are on, can I pause to congratulate the honourable | :50:26. | :50:28. | |
Member for Richmond Park to becoming a father again this week. I'm sure | :50:29. | :50:33. | |
the whole House which him and his family our very best wishes. I say | :50:34. | :50:37. | |
to honourable members, and to Londoners outside of this chamber, | :50:38. | :50:41. | |
don't be tricked by the spin and hot air coming from the honourable | :50:42. | :50:45. | |
Member for Richmond Park and the Government on this. Don't allow the | :50:46. | :50:49. | |
wool to be pulled over your eyes because all is not as the Tories | :50:50. | :50:56. | |
would have you believe. It hs a con. For a start, Amendment 112 tries to | :50:57. | :51:01. | |
make palatable the Government's plan to sell off council homes in London. | :51:02. | :51:06. | |
The editorial from the Evenhng Standard that I referred to earlier | :51:07. | :51:11. | |
set out three tests to judgd the impact on the Government's Housing | :51:12. | :51:17. | |
Bill. These are a useful test. Let's have a look at how both these | :51:18. | :51:22. | |
amendments measure up to thdir three tests. First, the Evening Standard | :51:23. | :51:28. | |
said it is absolutely necessary to keep money raised by the sale of | :51:29. | :51:34. | |
London council houses in London Test one. Amendment 112 cle`rly | :51:35. | :51:42. | |
fails on this front. The amdndment announced with great fanfard last | :51:43. | :51:46. | |
week fails to ringfence the money for London which means monex raised | :51:47. | :51:52. | |
by selling off London's council homes will still flood out of the | :51:53. | :51:57. | |
capital to subsidise the Government's national right,to-buy | :51:58. | :52:02. | |
scheme. This contrasts with Amendment 89, my amendment, which | :52:03. | :52:07. | |
will ringfence all the monex from London housing association homes | :52:08. | :52:12. | |
being sold under right to bty in London for new affordable homes The | :52:13. | :52:24. | |
second test. The Evening St`ndard said it would be a mixed bldssing if | :52:25. | :52:28. | |
they lost their housing association stock even if it meant more council | :52:29. | :52:34. | |
homes being built in outer London. Amendment 112 fails on this front. | :52:35. | :52:40. | |
It opens the door for homes to be replaced outside the borough where | :52:41. | :52:41. | |
they have been sold off. If there was any doubt this was the | :52:42. | :52:52. | |
case the honourable member of the rich and Park admitted just last | :52:53. | :52:58. | |
week the truth about the Government's on amendment, his own | :52:59. | :53:02. | |
amendment. He owned up that inner London would be hollowed out under | :53:03. | :53:07. | |
his amendment. He said, and I quote, it was a mathematical obstacle to | :53:08. | :53:12. | |
replace social housing in C`mden and other boroughs like Westminster | :53:13. | :53:20. | |
Chelsea, under the money proposals that he has. There you have it. An | :53:21. | :53:27. | |
admission the honourable melber for original part's amendment whll let | :53:28. | :53:33. | |
London be hollowed out and compare that to amendment 89, a replacement | :53:34. | :53:39. | |
like-for-like whole is guar`nteed in the borough where the original home | :53:40. | :53:44. | |
is sold before the rest of the money is sent -- spent on a more | :53:45. | :53:48. | |
affordable housing across the capital. My amendment doing exactly | :53:49. | :53:54. | |
what it says on the 10th. The third test set out in the Evening | :53:55. | :53:59. | |
Standard, it said a healthy housing sector is a mix of private | :54:00. | :54:02. | |
ownership, private rentals `nd social housing. The Governmdnt in | :54:03. | :54:08. | |
its attempt to promote homeownership should not forget the rest. Yet the | :54:09. | :54:16. | |
reality is, and amendment 102, the so-called affordable homes they | :54:17. | :54:18. | |
promise to build could all be homes for sale at nearly half ?1 lillion. | :54:19. | :54:27. | |
Can I tell politely the gentleman for Richmond Park in few people s | :54:28. | :54:31. | |
eyes are homes of ?450,000 affordable. We know just how | :54:32. | :54:39. | |
interested the Prime Ministdr himself is of getting hung tp on | :54:40. | :54:41. | |
what is truly affordable and what what is truly affordable and what | :54:42. | :54:45. | |
isn't. The response of the Prime Minister last week to those who | :54:46. | :54:51. | |
dared suggest that ?450,000 was not really affordable was quite | :54:52. | :54:57. | |
remarkable. The Prime Minister said, and I quote, people get too hung up | :54:58. | :55:05. | |
on these definitions. The ddfinition the Prime Minister said, thd | :55:06. | :55:11. | |
definition of affordable hotse is a house that someone can afford to buy | :55:12. | :55:18. | |
or afford to rent. Just think about it for a minute. Affordable housing | :55:19. | :55:24. | |
is a house that someone can afford to buy or afford to rent. On that | :55:25. | :55:30. | |
measure, some of those expensive homes in London, such as thd ?2 .5 | :55:31. | :55:39. | |
million Hyde Park mention sold last year or affordable! Because someone | :55:40. | :55:47. | |
has been able to buy them. This shows just how far from reality the | :55:48. | :55:51. | |
honourable member for Richmond Park and this Government are and how out | :55:52. | :55:58. | |
of touch they are with the housing crisis. The honourable membdr for | :55:59. | :56:03. | |
Richmond Park admitted to the Camden new Journal last week that the term | :56:04. | :56:08. | |
affordable was, and I'm putting this literally, the Odjidja-Ofoe -- the | :56:09. | :56:13. | |
term affordable has become dlastic and misleading and at that point we | :56:14. | :56:17. | |
agreed. I would give way to the honourable member who has bden | :56:18. | :56:25. | |
heckling me loudly and rudely. I thank you for giving way. I'm sure | :56:26. | :56:29. | |
he would never heckle from ` sedentary position. Can I point out | :56:30. | :56:34. | |
the starter provisions give a 2 % price cut every first-time buyer, | :56:35. | :56:39. | |
which is welcome, and in Croydon, my borough, the average 20% discount | :56:40. | :56:44. | |
means a starter home surely be about 220 or 20 ?50,000, which I'l sure | :56:45. | :56:48. | |
even the honourable member opposite would agree is extremely affordable. | :56:49. | :56:57. | |
Really? It usually takes a parliamentarian used car out of | :56:58. | :57:03. | |
touch, he has done it in six months. -- years to become. And I dhd say | :57:04. | :57:11. | |
Shelter have said that the starter home of ?450,000, you have to earn | :57:12. | :57:17. | |
an annual salary of ?77,000 and have a deposit of ?98,000. Put aside the | :57:18. | :57:25. | |
nurse, the junior doctor, the bus driver, people who get a st`rter job | :57:26. | :57:29. | |
in the City of London in ond of the top FTSE 100 companies cannot afford | :57:30. | :57:33. | |
one of the Government's starter homes. That is out of touch. Can I | :57:34. | :57:41. | |
just say, I will give way one last time to the leader of the Lhberal | :57:42. | :57:48. | |
Democrats. He makes a good case What I would just ask him to do and | :57:49. | :57:53. | |
and why he's focusing on London we must not allow the Government to | :57:54. | :57:57. | |
pretend that London is its Pacific and solitary special case. There are | :57:58. | :58:01. | |
many parts of the country, particularly the late to strict | :58:02. | :58:04. | |
Yorkshire Dales, many rural areas where house prices are incrddibly | :58:05. | :58:08. | |
expensive, wages are low and the availability of social rentdd | :58:09. | :58:11. | |
housing is essential to sochal makes in those communities. Does he agree | :58:12. | :58:14. | |
this is a problem not just hn London? Let me to say to thd | :58:15. | :58:20. | |
honourable gentleman, I agrde completely with his intervention but | :58:21. | :58:23. | |
I want to go further, I don't think the Government is making a special | :58:24. | :58:28. | |
case for London, if you combined the Chancellor Bosma Autumn Statement | :58:29. | :58:34. | |
with the, I think the Government has it in for London rather than the | :58:35. | :58:37. | |
Government being a special case As I said, I was in Camden tod`y. The | :58:38. | :58:44. | |
average cost of a property to rent in Hamdan is 73% of the average | :58:45. | :58:53. | |
income in Camden, so much for the mayoral candidate being in touch | :58:54. | :58:57. | |
with Londoners from the Conservative Party. We also discovered l`st week | :58:58. | :59:02. | |
that the Government is watering down the definition of what is affordable | :59:03. | :59:06. | |
to include starter homes th`t cost 17 times the average British salary. | :59:07. | :59:14. | |
Compare that to amendment 88 in my name, this would guarantee ` new | :59:15. | :59:19. | |
home for social rented to rdplace that sold, in short, amendmdnt 12 | :59:20. | :59:24. | |
honourable member for Richmond Park, honourable member for Richmond Park, | :59:25. | :59:29. | |
elastic and misleading. The amendment I've pitched out hs clear | :59:30. | :59:31. | |
and firm. It meets the tests that and firm. It meets the tests that | :59:32. | :59:36. | |
Londoners expect and I would urge members, especially anyone who | :59:37. | :59:40. | |
claims to understand the hotsing crisis in London, anyone who helps | :59:41. | :59:46. | |
to fix it, who wants to help fix it to ignore the overblown clahms about | :59:47. | :59:52. | |
amendment 112 and instead stpport my amendments, and amendment 80 nine. | :59:53. | :00:04. | |
-- 89. I will be very brief because we don't have much time to discuss | :00:05. | :00:08. | |
this. Clearly we are speaking about a national issue and a national | :00:09. | :00:11. | |
concern but there can be no doubt housing is the number one issue for | :00:12. | :00:17. | |
London, prices last year rose around 10% on average. The average price | :00:18. | :00:21. | |
now every first-time buyer hn London is over ?400,000. I don't think | :00:22. | :00:27. | |
anyone can argue that Londoners today are being priced out of their | :00:28. | :00:31. | |
own city, it is not justice is a problem and the point has bden made | :00:32. | :00:34. | |
in relation to another city, never it is a jeopardy, it jeopardises | :00:35. | :00:40. | |
London's economy, it is no longer is dissociation and the bottom line is | :00:41. | :00:45. | |
we need to build more. We nded to build the people across the entire | :00:46. | :00:47. | |
income spectrum. It's no good having a polarised approach, with dasy | :00:48. | :00:50. | |
results of the optional 100 social results of the optional 100 social | :00:51. | :00:54. | |
housing on the other. We nedd to ensure the market can accomlodate | :00:55. | :00:58. | |
young professionals, key workers and the like, people who perhaps do not | :00:59. | :01:03. | |
qualify for social housing. I'm pleased by the interventions we had | :01:04. | :01:07. | |
last week my emphasis on sh`red ownership that will work around the | :01:08. | :01:10. | |
country, but particularly it will impact here in London. The London | :01:11. | :01:14. | |
version of the helped by, is very successful nationally, less | :01:15. | :01:18. | |
successful in London becausd we live in a different world, prices are so | :01:19. | :01:21. | |
out of kilter with the rest of the country that this person look - | :01:22. | :01:26. | |
that this is book offer will have an impact and the 2-1 amendment, I have | :01:27. | :01:31. | |
some questions for my honourable friend, he has tabled an amdndment | :01:32. | :01:34. | |
that two new affordable homds will be built for every single hhgh-value | :01:35. | :01:39. | |
council warned that is sold as a hot words of the extension of the right | :01:40. | :01:44. | |
to buy. This is an extension of the amendment and I want to sincerely | :01:45. | :01:46. | |
thank my honourable friend for his diligence in making this work. One | :01:47. | :01:51. | |
moment please. Can I ask my honourable friend, will he said -- | :01:52. | :01:55. | |
update the house when he wr`ps up at the end of this bundle, can he | :01:56. | :01:59. | |
update the house at this discussion is of London's local authorhties | :02:00. | :02:02. | |
about how they will be able to work together to deliver the homds London | :02:03. | :02:07. | |
is? I know he's taken part hn discussions but council leaders from | :02:08. | :02:10. | |
all the different parties, both in and out of London, it would be good | :02:11. | :02:14. | |
to have an update on that shortly the stockpiles ask my honourable | :02:15. | :02:17. | |
friend about the housing is a that are essential in the delivery of the | :02:18. | :02:23. | |
next generation of homes, that the G 15 have committed already, H | :02:24. | :02:28. | |
believe, delivering a one-for-one replacement of all homes sold. This | :02:29. | :02:33. | |
also told me they could delhver a great deal more, even, potentially, | :02:34. | :02:37. | |
just one moment, they would even be willing and able to replace each | :02:38. | :02:41. | |
home is sold with two new ones, provided the Government givds them | :02:42. | :02:45. | |
the flexibility is they are asking for and, more importantly, `ccess to | :02:46. | :02:48. | |
public sector land. Will my honourable friend commits to looking | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
carefully at those flexibilhties that the houses of users ard asking | :02:54. | :02:57. | |
for and when he looked at the most critical issue, access to that | :02:58. | :03:00. | |
public sector land, as he knows because he can take some crddit for | :03:01. | :03:03. | |
it along with my honourable friend the member for Uxbridge, London land | :03:04. | :03:08. | |
commission is now alive, it is providing an infantry of all | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
publicly horned Brownfield land in London and we will have the figures | :03:13. | :03:16. | |
shortly. We do not have all the details yet but we know there is an | :03:17. | :03:20. | |
enormous amount of public Brownfield land that could be developed, if you | :03:21. | :03:24. | |
give me one moment. We know that to build the homes we need, th`t lad | :03:25. | :03:28. | |
absolutely has to be used so it would be useful to know when he | :03:29. | :03:32. | |
wraps up if we could have some kind of likely timetable, when whll we | :03:33. | :03:37. | |
have to picture and what will be the process of losing that led to the | :03:38. | :03:41. | |
housing such Asians and devdlopers, and finally, I said I would let my | :03:42. | :03:44. | |
honourable friend in and I will let him for me is not before I finish | :03:45. | :03:49. | |
was a Housing associations. Does he agree that the forced sale of Eddie | :03:50. | :03:53. | |
council properties is is a good or bad idea, but if it is to go ahead | :03:54. | :03:56. | |
does he agree that those properties should be replaced with | :03:57. | :04:00. | |
like-for-like in the same local authority area? Is that his | :04:01. | :04:05. | |
position? As my honourable friend knows, I stood, honourable lember, | :04:06. | :04:12. | |
sorry, I stood on a manifesto that extends to a commitment that | :04:13. | :04:16. | |
includes sending right to bty two houses logician tennis, that is the | :04:17. | :04:20. | |
right policy to enable hundreds of thousands of people to achidve | :04:21. | :04:23. | |
co-ownership who would not be unable to achieve so. That would not be | :04:24. | :04:27. | |
possible without the sale of high-value council homes. That it | :04:28. | :04:31. | |
differs up if, as a consequdnce each sale leads to two new portable | :04:32. | :04:36. | |
homes being built I would rdgard that as being good. I will not take | :04:37. | :04:42. | |
another. I took the likely intervention. Final question to my | :04:43. | :04:44. | |
right honourable friend, wotld he commits to ensuring that thd public | :04:45. | :04:52. | |
bodies can take the widest possible and longest term view of best value | :04:53. | :04:57. | |
when releasing land. This is a point raised time and time again by the | :04:58. | :05:01. | |
developers, great and small, and the housing associations and without a | :05:02. | :05:05. | |
redefinition, and expanded definition. To play on that point. | :05:06. | :05:12. | |
The National office study on the disposal of public land showed there | :05:13. | :05:20. | |
is enough land sold off in the last transfer 109,500 potential loans but | :05:21. | :05:22. | |
does he agree that people do not live in potential homes, delivering | :05:23. | :05:25. | |
actual homes and making surd when the sale takes place that there is a | :05:26. | :05:31. | |
plan in the public interest to ensure something happens in a timely | :05:32. | :05:37. | |
manner is essential? This is absolute essential if we ard going | :05:38. | :05:40. | |
to get the best value of thd publicly available and that will not | :05:41. | :05:44. | |
result from simply a rapid-fire sect, it will require much lore good | :05:45. | :05:48. | |
viewing and strategic view by the public bodies and I hope to see more | :05:49. | :05:52. | |
of that as a consequence of this covenant plasma intervention. I | :05:53. | :05:55. | |
thank my honourable friend `gain for the work he has put into delivering | :05:56. | :05:58. | |
the July from one amendment, I'm grateful and I think it does ensure | :05:59. | :06:01. | |
that this bill words from London. Thank you. Firstly, well, -, welcome | :06:02. | :06:12. | |
to the amendments the Government are good and that the select colmittee | :06:13. | :06:17. | |
announced before Christmas leaning the pay to stay scheme was going to | :06:18. | :06:21. | |
voluntary housing associations. I think that was a sensible move. My | :06:22. | :06:26. | |
argument would be that what is good enough housing should be Goodenough | :06:27. | :06:31. | |
for councils as well and thdy should be discretion on the pay to stay | :06:32. | :06:37. | |
scheme for councils to oper`te within their housing revenud | :06:38. | :06:42. | |
accounts, which receive no subsidy at all from the general taxpayer. | :06:43. | :06:45. | |
That is something the Government could easily do without affdcting | :06:46. | :06:49. | |
the general public finances whatsoever. In the spirit of | :06:50. | :06:52. | |
localism, it's something thd Government should do. In terms of | :06:53. | :06:57. | |
the sale of high-value local authority houses, we live in a | :06:58. | :07:03. | |
different world in Sheffield from the prices in London. When we talk | :07:04. | :07:08. | |
about high view and value houses, the Prime Minister got alarled when | :07:09. | :07:13. | |
he saw council houses being valued at ?1 million. Most of the houses in | :07:14. | :07:17. | |
Sheffield sold under this legislation are family homes, good | :07:18. | :07:22. | |
quality family homes, that would get around 100 to ?150,000. The reality | :07:23. | :07:30. | |
of the Government's puzzles is that all the vacant houses in certain | :07:31. | :07:35. | |
parts of Sheffield will be sold off under this legislation becatse the | :07:36. | :07:39. | |
high value of houses will tdnd to be in the high-value areas. And this | :07:40. | :07:43. | |
means that the people on thd council waiting list there will be dntire | :07:44. | :07:48. | |
parts of cities like Sheffidld were, in the future, there will bd no | :07:49. | :07:51. | |
vacant properties at all, for people to rent. You can be on the waiting | :07:52. | :07:56. | |
list for the homes and the wait will be forever because no vacant | :07:57. | :08:00. | |
properties will ever become available. The Chancellor honourable | :08:01. | :08:05. | |
gentleman chances of the property is being replaced on a like-for-like | :08:06. | :08:08. | |
basis in those areas in a chty like Sheffield for the's the chances of. | :08:09. | :08:13. | |
After the discount for the right to buy plasma have been funded they | :08:14. | :08:16. | |
were simply not be enough money left to replace one social rented | :08:17. | :08:19. | |
property with another social rented property. I simply said to the | :08:20. | :08:24. | |
Government, I accept the Government has a mandate to bring in the right | :08:25. | :08:29. | |
to buy the housing associathon tenants. That is the policy they | :08:30. | :08:33. | |
were elected on. What I would say is, it will be much fairer that | :08:34. | :08:38. | |
policy were funded by the gdneral taxpayer as a whole rather than | :08:39. | :08:44. | |
funded solely by respective social housing tenants who, as a rdsult of | :08:45. | :08:49. | |
this policy, the council selling off their high-value properties, will | :08:50. | :08:53. | |
not have a home to rent in the future. It is unfair that only one | :08:54. | :08:57. | |
section of the community, a more deprived section, should have to be | :08:58. | :09:01. | |
the only ones that find and pay for this particular Government policy. | :09:02. | :09:04. | |
It is totally unfair that those councils that have sold off their | :09:05. | :09:09. | |
properties in a stock transfer will have to make no contribution at all | :09:10. | :09:14. | |
towards this policy and that the totality of the policy that funds | :09:15. | :09:20. | |
house association sales all over the country should be only paid for by | :09:21. | :09:26. | |
some councils and not by others Why is that the Government thinks that a | :09:27. | :09:32. | |
policy that is national in nature should only be funded by sole | :09:33. | :09:37. | |
councils that happen to ret`in their council housing stock? Therd is no | :09:38. | :09:40. | |
logic for that. There will be a lot more agreement with the housing | :09:41. | :09:44. | |
association right to buy and its consequences if Government were to | :09:45. | :09:47. | |
change this aspect of how that policy were funded. | :09:48. | :09:52. | |
I want to go on to the security of tenure and this rather nastx | :09:53. | :09:57. | |
mean-spirited Schedule 4 th`t the Government brought in under | :09:58. | :10:02. | |
Committee Stage. Why are cotncil tenants deemed to be second,class? | :10:03. | :10:07. | |
Why has the Government got ht in for council tenants? When the Committee | :10:08. | :10:11. | |
looked at the private rented sector in the last Parliament, it was | :10:12. | :10:15. | |
obvious, one of the biggest problems people have with the privatd sector | :10:16. | :10:18. | |
is the lack of security. Wh`t we should be doing is trying to give | :10:19. | :10:23. | |
greater security for people in the private rented sector. If you are | :10:24. | :10:29. | |
going to remain there, they need greater security. Why has the | :10:30. | :10:35. | |
Government, instead of giving greater security to private sector | :10:36. | :10:40. | |
tenants, doing the opposite and transferring the problems to the | :10:41. | :10:44. | |
council sector and bringing insecurity to council tenants? What | :10:45. | :10:48. | |
is the logic of that? Let's look at what the impact will be. Let's look | :10:49. | :10:51. | |
for families. This is about families, not just moving home, but | :10:52. | :10:56. | |
potentially having to uproot, change their jobs, find another job if they | :10:57. | :10:59. | |
can, and kids moving school. There is nothing more damaging to the | :11:00. | :11:04. | |
prospects for kids for the future lives that they may have th`n having | :11:05. | :11:09. | |
their education constantly disrupted by having to move house and from one | :11:10. | :11:12. | |
school to another. And that is what the Government is moving to do by | :11:13. | :11:19. | |
bringing in this policy. My honourable friend is making a very | :11:20. | :11:23. | |
powerful speech, as he alwaxs does. And of course this issue is not just | :11:24. | :11:28. | |
going to affect individual families, but entire communities becatse if | :11:29. | :11:33. | |
families feel that they may have to move on within very short pdriods of | :11:34. | :11:37. | |
time, what incentive is there to get involved in your local commtnity to | :11:38. | :11:41. | |
put down roots, to build colmunity ties if they have to be cut | :11:42. | :11:48. | |
unnecessarily soon? I'm surd she can't read my handwriting, but it is | :11:49. | :11:52. | |
very difficult at the best of times, but that is my next point. This | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
isn't just about individuals and their own homes, individuals are | :11:57. | :11:59. | |
part of a wider community, they may have joined their wider ten`nts | :12:00. | :12:03. | |
association, and then they `re told your home has gone, so has the | :12:04. | :12:06. | |
community life, and the comlunity as well loses out as well as those | :12:07. | :12:13. | |
individuals. Let's take a pdnsioner who is retired, who decides they | :12:14. | :12:17. | |
want to move on to a bungalow, or flat, which is more suitabld for | :12:18. | :12:21. | |
their immediate needs. That pensioner in a secure counchl | :12:22. | :12:25. | |
property is now faced with the prospect, because I think this | :12:26. | :12:29. | |
legislation applies to people of retirement age, the Minister could | :12:30. | :12:36. | |
confirm that. They face this prospect of moving on to pensioner | :12:37. | :12:40. | |
accommodation. That will not have a secure tenancy attached to ht. We | :12:41. | :12:44. | |
are asking people to take the risk of moving from a secure ten`ncy in a | :12:45. | :12:49. | |
family home, to move to a pdnsioner accommodation without that security. | :12:50. | :12:53. | |
That is going to undermine lobility and mean that less family homes | :12:54. | :12:58. | |
become available and those pensioners can't move on to more | :12:59. | :13:01. | |
suitable accommodation. If they do, they face a prospect of being turfed | :13:02. | :13:07. | |
out of that accommodation at the will and wish of their landlord | :13:08. | :13:11. | |
This can't be right to put pensioners in this position. I just | :13:12. | :13:17. | |
say to the... On that point, one of the arguments put forward in support | :13:18. | :13:23. | |
of the bedroom tax is it will encourage people to move to smaller | :13:24. | :13:27. | |
properties when opportunitids arise. Isn't what you have said | :13:28. | :13:31. | |
inconsistent with the aims of that policy? It is going to discourage | :13:32. | :13:36. | |
people moving from a secure tenancy into an insecure tenancy of a | :13:37. | :13:40. | |
smaller property. I must sax to the Government, if that is their | :13:41. | :13:45. | |
intention, to try and ensurd that people who have more space hn their | :13:46. | :13:48. | |
home than the Government thhnks they need, the answer is to build more | :13:49. | :13:53. | |
properties in the first place, so we have more socially rented properties | :13:54. | :13:58. | |
for people who need them. Ldt's take this down to an individual | :13:59. | :14:05. | |
situation. A family sat arotnd their breakfast table waiting for the | :14:06. | :14:08. | |
postman to come, or a pensioner couple in their home, who are now in | :14:09. | :14:14. | |
one of these fixed-term ten`ncies, waiting for the postman to come | :14:15. | :14:18. | |
bringing a letter from their local council or housing associathon. This | :14:19. | :14:22. | |
might be called the Lewis ldtter when it drops on people's doormats. | :14:23. | :14:27. | |
That letter, when they open it with trembling hands, will tell them | :14:28. | :14:33. | |
without any forewarning, after a period of six to nine months, | :14:34. | :14:41. | |
whether they can stay in thdir home - these are people's homes `t the | :14:42. | :14:45. | |
end of the day - they can stay in their home at the women the whim of | :14:46. | :14:57. | |
the council, or be whether they will have no home at all from thd council | :14:58. | :15:02. | |
in the future. Just feel thd tension in that household when that Lewis | :15:03. | :15:06. | |
letter drops on the doormat and people open it. Even if the answer | :15:07. | :15:10. | |
is, yes, you have been a good tenant, yes, you can stay in your | :15:11. | :15:13. | |
home for another five years, the trauma this is going to put people | :15:14. | :15:16. | |
through is beyond measure. H just hope the Government will thhnk | :15:17. | :15:21. | |
again. This is mean-minded `nd dreadful, this particular schedule | :15:22. | :15:24. | |
of the legislation. I hope the Government will withdraw it. If they | :15:25. | :15:31. | |
won't, I hope the amendment my honourable friend makes will be | :15:32. | :15:34. | |
successful so we can give everyone the security of tenure that they | :15:35. | :15:41. | |
richly deserve. I have kept the House quite up-to-date in rdlation | :15:42. | :15:45. | |
to my own struggles to get on to the property ladder as a 29-year-old. I | :15:46. | :15:50. | |
managed to get myself on to the property ladder with my partner | :15:51. | :15:54. | |
before the Christmas recess. I have to say when listening to thd speech | :15:55. | :15:59. | |
from the right honourable Mdmber for Tooting in relation to lack of house | :16:00. | :16:04. | |
building, I'm afraid I have been struggling to get on the property | :16:05. | :16:07. | |
ladder, like thousands of other young professionals around this | :16:08. | :16:10. | |
country, and he was a member of that Government which built far fewer | :16:11. | :16:15. | |
houses than we are building today. And thousands of my constittents in | :16:16. | :16:19. | |
Bath, in one of the least affordable cities in the UK, are also | :16:20. | :16:24. | |
struggling to get on to the property ladder. We need to be buildhng more | :16:25. | :16:31. | |
houses now. To anyone that has ever visited Bath, Bath is one of the | :16:32. | :16:36. | |
most expensive places to live in relation to local earnings ratios. | :16:37. | :16:41. | |
In fact, in relation to the recent report by Lloyds Bank, and the | :16:42. | :16:50. | |
latest afford -- affordabilhty review, Bath is ranked as the sixth | :16:51. | :16:56. | |
most expensive place to livd in the UK. Furthermore, with much-needed | :16:57. | :17:02. | |
rail electrification, which is under way on the Great Western Mahn Line, | :17:03. | :17:06. | |
improving train journey timds into London will be unsurprising to the | :17:07. | :17:09. | |
Minister that my constituents will fear the cost of buying a home will | :17:10. | :17:15. | |
become more unaffordable and this will force Bath residents to wait | :17:16. | :17:18. | |
even longer before they can get on to the property ladder. The news | :17:19. | :17:22. | |
that this Government is comlitted to increasing the number of affordable | :17:23. | :17:25. | |
homes in London where gener`tion rent seems to have taken hold, | :17:26. | :17:31. | |
changes like this proves thhs is the party of opportunity, helping | :17:32. | :17:34. | |
everyone to reach those important life goals, such as buying their own | :17:35. | :17:37. | |
home. Therefore, I welcome the announcement that the Government | :17:38. | :17:40. | |
will ensure that in London two affordable home also be built for | :17:41. | :17:44. | |
every unit of high value th`t is sold in the city. May I also | :17:45. | :17:47. | |
congratulate my honourable friend for Richmond Park as well for | :17:48. | :17:54. | |
championing this cause. And I am certain he will make a superb Mayor | :17:55. | :18:00. | |
of London. I'm grateful. He is rightly highlighting the ch`llenges | :18:01. | :18:03. | |
in Bath, and I know it's thd case in Oxford and elsewhere. This principle | :18:04. | :18:06. | |
which our honourable friend, the Member for Richmond Park has | :18:07. | :18:12. | |
identified of two for one, does merit consideration in other | :18:13. | :18:16. | |
hotspots. Does he agree with me that the Minister will look at this | :18:17. | :18:20. | |
carefully? I would endorse his comments. I have seen in thd | :18:21. | :18:25. | |
amendments list today that that is being looked at. Obviously, I | :18:26. | :18:28. | |
welcome the assurance that the Government will look at replicating | :18:29. | :18:34. | |
this in Bath, St Albans and Oxford by the amendment in Sub-section 6. | :18:35. | :18:45. | |
Developments are under way hn other brownfield sites. This will help | :18:46. | :18:49. | |
build more homes on brownfidld sites. I am pleased to see the | :18:50. | :18:56. | |
Government is committed to this Further to amendment, I look forward | :18:57. | :19:00. | |
to working with the Minister as do other colleagues in relation to | :19:01. | :19:05. | |
rolling this out in other hhgh-cost areas. I just like to make ` few | :19:06. | :19:12. | |
remarks about the impact of the Government's proposals on Stockport. | :19:13. | :19:16. | |
The impact of the sale of hhgh-value properties will be an issue in | :19:17. | :19:20. | |
Stockport because property prices are high and land is scarce. Even a | :19:21. | :19:30. | |
committed person will find ht a struggle. In order for high,value to | :19:31. | :19:34. | |
operate fairly, it would nedd to operate on a local level to ensure | :19:35. | :19:40. | |
that no one authority bears the brunt of sales. In Greater | :19:41. | :19:46. | |
Manchester, a high-value level could mean Stockport sells the vast | :19:47. | :19:49. | |
majority of the stock because it is higher-property prices than most | :19:50. | :19:53. | |
other areas in the region, depending on the scale this would havd a | :19:54. | :19:57. | |
significant effect on the ability to meet housing need in the borough. | :19:58. | :20:01. | |
Moving to the issue of pay to stay thresholds, I think the new | :20:02. | :20:04. | |
threshold should take into `ccount the cost of private renting in each | :20:05. | :20:11. | |
particular area as well as hncome. The Housing Bill proposes p`y to | :20:12. | :20:17. | |
stay market rents. That thrdshold is very low. A couple both working | :20:18. | :20:24. | |
full-time at the average Stockport wage of ?19,083 would have to pay a | :20:25. | :20:36. | |
higher rent than their neighbours. In August 2015, the rents of private | :20:37. | :20:45. | |
rented accommodation was twhce those of Stockport and there was ` limited | :20:46. | :20:49. | |
supply. So, clearly, moving to the private sector would not be an | :20:50. | :20:53. | |
option. However, the problel is that ?40 a week is still a lot of money | :20:54. | :20:58. | |
to find and may for a familx be unaffordable. Therefore, ond way out | :20:59. | :21:01. | |
would be to earn less money to ensure they do not meet the | :21:02. | :21:05. | |
threshold by cutting the hotrs they work or leaving a job altogdther. | :21:06. | :21:09. | |
Clearly, that cannot be right as it would have the impact of behng a | :21:10. | :21:14. | |
disincentive for people to work for the maximum amount of hours that | :21:15. | :21:18. | |
they could. This is counter to everything the Government espouses. | :21:19. | :21:23. | |
The cost of private renting varies greatly. So it would be better if | :21:24. | :21:29. | |
the pay to stay market rents if introduced took account of the | :21:30. | :21:32. | |
average income of couples in that area and the rents in the private | :21:33. | :21:36. | |
sector so that there were no disincentives to work. I hope the | :21:37. | :21:40. | |
Minister will also consider the situation of care leavers in his | :21:41. | :21:46. | |
proposal. Housing benefits `ccount for single people under 35 xear also | :21:47. | :21:50. | |
be cut to the shared accommodation rate. This proposal could m`ke it | :21:51. | :21:54. | |
more difficult than it alre`dy is for young people to find a home they | :21:55. | :22:00. | |
can afford. Around 18,000 of Stockport homes current ten`nts are | :22:01. | :22:03. | |
under 35 and are receiving some level of housing benefit. The | :22:04. | :22:07. | |
changes would mean that both the social housing and private rented | :22:08. | :22:12. | |
sectors would become increasingly unaffordable and young people will | :22:13. | :22:17. | |
be at a risk of homelessness at a time when homelessness acceptance | :22:18. | :22:25. | |
has risen nationally since 2009 The typical young person under 35 would | :22:26. | :22:29. | |
need to find the difference between the average Stockport homes rent of | :22:30. | :22:34. | |
?74,60 a week and the shared allowance rate of ?62, which means a | :22:35. | :22:41. | |
cut of ?13 a week once the change s come into effect. That will be more | :22:42. | :22:42. | |
in the private sector. Er Manchester. Care levers `re often | :22:43. | :22:56. | |
vulnerable people with complex support needs and problems that can | :22:57. | :23:00. | |
go on all their lives and bdcause I think it's important that c`re | :23:01. | :23:05. | |
leavers should be excluded from the shared accommodation, housing | :23:06. | :23:09. | |
benefit cap beyond 22, they do not have the alternative of movhng in | :23:10. | :23:12. | |
with family members as many other young people do and are likdly to | :23:13. | :23:16. | |
live alone for longer than the average young person. On thhs basis, | :23:17. | :23:20. | |
it is problematic to impose such a low exemption age and I hopd the | :23:21. | :23:25. | |
Government will consider further the circumstances of care leavers when | :23:26. | :23:28. | |
this bill goes to another place for consideration. Mark Field. Thank | :23:29. | :23:34. | |
you, Madam Deputy Speaker. H think all London MPs particularly London | :23:35. | :23:39. | |
MPs, I welcome any efforts to boost semiand tackle what's becomd an | :23:40. | :23:42. | |
emergency situation for the capital. Search by my City of London | :23:43. | :23:47. | |
Corporation found that even the cheapest 10% of London's hotses are | :23:48. | :23:50. | |
only affordable for the highest earning of 25% of workers in | :23:51. | :23:54. | |
businesses who now believe they recognise the housing supplx costs | :23:55. | :23:57. | |
are a significant risk to the capital's economy. It is | :23:58. | :24:02. | |
increasingly apparent I accdpt there have been other contributions from | :24:03. | :24:05. | |
Oxford, Bath, from Sheffield and other cities here, but therd are | :24:06. | :24:12. | |
some - a really - acute need now for some specific London-based solutions | :24:13. | :24:15. | |
to look at the housing costs and I hope we can capitalise on the | :24:16. | :24:19. | |
enthusiasm we have heard in the House today towards devoluthon in | :24:20. | :24:22. | |
that regard. I would like to share briefly with the Minister the | :24:23. | :24:26. | |
thoughts of my two local authorities and also some local housing | :24:27. | :24:29. | |
associations in the hope we can start to carve out a proper London | :24:30. | :24:32. | |
housing policy I think in almost every speech I have given in this | :24:33. | :24:36. | |
House lot last 15 years on the subject of housing I am lamdnted the | :24:37. | :24:41. | |
increasing polarisation of central London to which my honourable friend | :24:42. | :24:46. | |
for Richmond Park referred where even those on medium and evdn | :24:47. | :24:50. | |
increasingly high incomes h`ve been pushed out to cater for a ndw global | :24:51. | :24:55. | |
super-rich and those who qu`lify for precious social housing. Thd real | :24:56. | :24:59. | |
issue to my honourable friend and I think to Tooting as well, wd as | :25:00. | :25:04. | |
Londoners recognise we have an attractive city very largelx because | :25:05. | :25:07. | |
of the social capital that generations of Londoners before us | :25:08. | :25:12. | |
have built up and many of the future generations of Londoners will not | :25:13. | :25:14. | |
have the opportunity of bendfitting from that social capital th`t is in | :25:15. | :25:19. | |
place. Of course I'll give way. I thank the honourable gentlelan. He | :25:20. | :25:23. | |
represents a major part of central London where we have the highest | :25:24. | :25:27. | |
housing values. We answer the question that the member for | :25:28. | :25:30. | |
Richmond Park completely avoided which is does he agree the | :25:31. | :25:34. | |
two-for-one policy is absolttely worthless unless the income from the | :25:35. | :25:38. | |
sale of those houses is reinvested in the same local authority area in | :25:39. | :25:43. | |
central London? Absolutely worthless although I would actually echo the | :25:44. | :25:46. | |
comments that were made earlier on. I do hope the Minister will be able | :25:47. | :25:52. | |
to give some indication as well as accepting Amendment 112 which I was | :25:53. | :25:57. | |
a co-signator to as well, some indication to ensure that wd will | :25:58. | :26:04. | |
have - as far as possible the Government will wisely make sure the | :26:05. | :26:07. | |
legal terms of the wording of the Government amendment doesn't | :26:08. | :26:10. | |
actually guarantee - becausd the worlding doesn't guarantee `ny sales | :26:11. | :26:15. | |
proceeds will be retained in London but simply governs the terms of | :26:16. | :26:17. | |
agreements the Government mhght choose to make to that effect. I | :26:18. | :26:21. | |
think it would be helpful if we can get something on the record about | :26:22. | :26:25. | |
the strength of that commitlent to ensure there is a replacement | :26:26. | :26:27. | |
building here in the capital and that is something I would w`nt to | :26:28. | :26:30. | |
leave to the Minister later on. I think it would be fair to s`y that | :26:31. | :26:35. | |
the plans allowing housing associations the right to bty a home | :26:36. | :26:42. | |
did come as a rabbit in the hat in May's general lock shrub. I agree | :26:43. | :26:47. | |
that the aspiration to roll out home ownership to as many as possible but | :26:48. | :26:51. | |
I do worry the forced sale will actually deplete stock. Oncd a wind | :26:52. | :26:56. | |
fall has been pocketed the property concerned will simply be rented out | :26:57. | :27:00. | |
to a high earner. That's wh`t's happened in many of the housing | :27:01. | :27:03. | |
estates in my constituency where the second or third offer - right to buy | :27:04. | :27:08. | |
has been, dare I say, a well-paid yuppie. I want to speak on this I | :27:09. | :27:14. | |
won't take anymore. I think on a philosophical level I have to | :27:15. | :27:17. | |
confess I have been uneasy `bout the prospect of a forced sale of | :27:18. | :27:23. | |
properties that have been btilt or bought with private philanthropic | :27:24. | :27:26. | |
donation and without Governlent grant. In my constituency it risks | :27:27. | :27:37. | |
disregarding the intention the owner John Peevery had in the latd 18 0s | :27:38. | :27:43. | |
which saw thousands of his homes built without grant in my own | :27:44. | :27:47. | |
constituency and slightly bdyond. I accept we cross the Rubicon with | :27:48. | :27:51. | |
this with leaseholder legislation over the past 30 years but H woi | :27:52. | :27:56. | |
about the precedence it's sdtting. It's already been mooted by | :27:57. | :28:00. | |
opposition benches that buy,to-let landlords should be forced to sell | :28:01. | :28:04. | |
their houses to tenants which would be wrong but it would be an | :28:05. | :28:07. | |
extension of what we're proposing in place. That touched I think on the | :28:08. | :28:11. | |
inherent unfairness of this policy. Had the Secretary of State been here | :28:12. | :28:15. | |
I would have taken him on a walk down memory line. He was a | :28:16. | :28:20. | |
councillor in my constituency of Pimlico. I was walking down that | :28:21. | :28:24. | |
street a matter of two or three weeks before the general eldction | :28:25. | :28:29. | |
canvassing on Cumberland Street in Pimlico. On the one side ard tenants | :28:30. | :28:36. | |
of LMQ who pay perhaps ?100 a week for their flats. On the othdr side, | :28:37. | :28:41. | |
almost identical properties private renters are paying - except in a hot | :28:42. | :28:45. | |
spot of London but they're paying some ?350 a week in rent. Already | :28:46. | :28:50. | |
those tenants in a financially disadvantageous position. The former | :28:51. | :28:55. | |
group will get a discount on the purchase price of these properties | :28:56. | :28:58. | |
then potentially be able to rent them out further down the lhne. I | :28:59. | :29:03. | |
question the fairness of giving huge advantages to those already in | :29:04. | :29:06. | |
secure housing and no advantage to those in the private rented sector | :29:07. | :29:11. | |
whose voice perhaps isn't hdard as loudly particularly on the opposite | :29:12. | :29:15. | |
benches in this debate becatse it is an extremely expensive placd to live | :29:16. | :29:19. | |
in central London. By contr`st I have spoken to a number of housing | :29:20. | :29:23. | |
associations, the Lee Miner Association in the City of London, | :29:24. | :29:28. | |
Nichol Fur of the Seven Dials Housing Association, a coopdrative, | :29:29. | :29:34. | |
I should point out. They pohnt out charging people to stay if they earn | :29:35. | :29:40. | |
more than a certain income, ?30 000 outside of London and at le`st | :29:41. | :29:47. | |
?40,000 a year in London dods bring certain unfairness in place. For a | :29:48. | :29:51. | |
family in my constituency that isn't a large amount of money. I believe | :29:52. | :29:56. | |
the cap should be set higher and should be staircased so people pay | :29:57. | :30:00. | |
according to what they're e`rning. There is a natural worry introducing | :30:01. | :30:05. | |
such a cap at a starting Lev might actually be reduced as time goes by. | :30:06. | :30:09. | |
There is much to discuss in this bill. I would want to end own a | :30:10. | :30:13. | |
slightly positive note but H think there are major worries shared for | :30:14. | :30:18. | |
all of us as MPs - meeting the housing requirements of the capital | :30:19. | :30:20. | |
requires the commitment and action of all local authorities. In order | :30:21. | :30:27. | |
to help address authority shortages I am proud of the commitment to | :30:28. | :30:36. | |
build 3,200 new homes by 2025. Some of the most successful houshng | :30:37. | :30:42. | |
associations outside the sqtare mile many will recognise. I'm sorry item | :30:43. | :30:51. | |
I've concentrated on London. Members will appreciate why I have. All of | :30:52. | :30:55. | |
us as London MPs across this House know only too well our city will | :30:56. | :31:00. | |
only function successfully hf we start thinking creatively in the way | :31:01. | :31:04. | |
I know a number of members , dare I say on both sides of the Hotse are. | :31:05. | :31:09. | |
We do need together to try to address this housing crisis. Once | :31:10. | :31:12. | |
this legislation is on the statute book, and I hope it is rapidly, we | :31:13. | :31:17. | |
stand ready, all of us as London MPs to help this Government and any | :31:18. | :31:21. | |
future Government deliver and also to ensure that we're able to more | :31:22. | :31:25. | |
successfully tailor London's housing policy to ensure the social capital | :31:26. | :31:30. | |
to which I earlier referred is kept intact. Some of these issues I know | :31:31. | :31:35. | |
that have constrained housing supply can - we appreciate - only be | :31:36. | :31:38. | |
addressed at a national levdl. Therefore I look forward to hearing | :31:39. | :31:41. | |
what the Minister has to sax in response to this very timelx debate. | :31:42. | :31:47. | |
Madam Deputy Speaker it's a genuine policy to follow the honour`ble | :31:48. | :31:50. | |
member for Cities of London and Westminster who agrees with me of | :31:51. | :31:53. | |
the concerns that have been raised by members on this side abott this | :31:54. | :31:58. | |
bill. Today we're debating affordable housing. It has been the | :31:59. | :32:02. | |
subject of much deliberate confusion and smoke and mirrors by thd | :32:03. | :32:05. | |
previous coalition Government and current Conservative Governlent The | :32:06. | :32:09. | |
Mayor of London has tried to redefine affordable rent as up to | :32:10. | :32:13. | |
80% of very high private market rent, put simply anything btt | :32:14. | :32:16. | |
affordable to the vast majority of Londoners. Rent now consumes an | :32:17. | :32:21. | |
average of 62% of Londoners' income. Now Government is including a | :32:22. | :32:26. | |
starter home of up to ?450,000 within the definition of affordable | :32:27. | :32:31. | |
housing. This simply won't wash Something doesn't become affordable | :32:32. | :32:33. | |
simply because the Government labels it so. Across the country wd need | :32:34. | :32:37. | |
more social housing at rents directly related to the income of | :32:38. | :32:43. | |
lower income households mord intermediatute housing to rdnt and | :32:44. | :32:48. | |
buy for middle income earners and for those taking the first step on | :32:49. | :32:52. | |
the home ownership ladder. This is what the people of this country | :32:53. | :32:57. | |
aspire to. The clauses todax have been drafted by a blinkered | :32:58. | :33:01. | |
Government which has no intdrest in carefully assessing and responding | :33:02. | :33:04. | |
to housing need as it reallx is in this country and every interest in | :33:05. | :33:10. | |
peddling a myth of accessible home ownership to people, many of whom | :33:11. | :33:14. | |
stand little chance of achidving it. In doing this they're trading off | :33:15. | :33:17. | |
the interests of one section of the community against those of `nother. | :33:18. | :33:21. | |
In my short time as elected member of in House, I have spoken several | :33:22. | :33:25. | |
times in this chamber of thd extent of housing need in my consthtuency. | :33:26. | :33:29. | |
I represent a part of the London boroughs of Lambeth and Suffolk | :33:30. | :33:33. | |
Each borough has more than 20,0 0 people on the weight list for a | :33:34. | :33:37. | |
council home. Each week my surgery is full of people who come to see me | :33:38. | :33:41. | |
because they're in desperatd housing need. I give way. I am gratdful to | :33:42. | :33:45. | |
the honourable lady who is ` fellow member of the Select Committee. She | :33:46. | :33:48. | |
said at the start and I think rightly that the artificial and | :33:49. | :33:52. | |
fixed definition of affordability doesn't work and that actually the | :33:53. | :33:56. | |
move, which I think is central to this bill of relating affordability | :33:57. | :34:00. | |
to an individual's circumst`nces is the right direction, am I rhght in | :34:01. | :34:06. | |
interpreting what she just said I thank the honourable member for his | :34:07. | :34:10. | |
intervention. I am simply s`ying a definition of affordable whhch bears | :34:11. | :34:13. | |
no relation to median incomd which is the key test is a meaningless | :34:14. | :34:19. | |
definition of affordability. I I won't take a further intervdntion | :34:20. | :34:23. | |
from the honourable member for the time being if that's OK. Each week | :34:24. | :34:27. | |
people ask me why they should have to live in damp, overcrowded and | :34:28. | :34:32. | |
extortionately expensive prhvate flats, why their children should be | :34:33. | :34:36. | |
subject to the insecurities which come with short-term tenancx after | :34:37. | :34:39. | |
short-term tenancy and who hs going to help them in their housing need. | :34:40. | :34:43. | |
There will be many more people whose situation will be made much worse as | :34:44. | :34:46. | |
a consequence of this bill than will be helped by this bill. Takd, for | :34:47. | :34:50. | |
example a family who came to my surgery late last year typical of | :34:51. | :34:55. | |
many who contact me - the mother is part-time teaching assistant | :34:56. | :34:58. | |
studying to become a teacher. The father is a pharmacy technician | :34:59. | :35:02. | |
They live in a we have to bddroom housing association propertx with | :35:03. | :35:06. | |
their children. The two olddr girls both at secondary school sh`re a top | :35:07. | :35:10. | |
bunk while the two younger siblings share the bottom bunk. They describe | :35:11. | :35:14. | |
the to tell the situation is take on their relationship and on their | :35:15. | :35:18. | |
older divhuts are model student but often tired and stressed at school. | :35:19. | :35:23. | |
This family works hard and couldn't have more aspiration for a better | :35:24. | :35:26. | |
life but their situation will be made worse by this bill. Thdy will | :35:27. | :35:30. | |
not be able to afford to exdrcise the right to buy their houshng | :35:31. | :35:34. | |
association home and even if they could it would be a pretty big | :35:35. | :35:38. | |
gamble as it's not suitable for their needs. The home they're likely | :35:39. | :35:42. | |
to need is exactly the type of home that will be sold under right-to-buy | :35:43. | :35:48. | |
or that councils will be forced to sell under right-to-buy. Thhs bill | :35:49. | :35:53. | |
delivers nothing for this f`mily nor for many other residents like them | :35:54. | :35:57. | |
who can't raise a mortgage but nevertheless who have a housing need | :35:58. | :36:00. | |
and whose needs shouldn't bd ignored. I sat and went with this | :36:01. | :36:04. | |
family as they described thd sheer unfairness and impossibilitx of | :36:05. | :36:09. | |
their situation to me. I was dismayed yesterday in the | :36:10. | :36:12. | |
communities and local Government Select Committee to hear senior COG | :36:13. | :36:16. | |
officials admit they have not completed any analysis of the likely | :36:17. | :36:20. | |
sums that'll be rised from right right homes and the forced sale of | :36:21. | :36:24. | |
council homes. This means the Government doesn't know whether the | :36:25. | :36:28. | |
funds will be there to repl`ce housing association homes under | :36:29. | :36:33. | |
right right at all still less at a rate of two to one. We heard from an | :36:34. | :36:39. | |
officer from one Conservative-led local authority in Cambridgdshire | :36:40. | :36:41. | |
who says the Government was up to the limit of its cap. When hts | :36:42. | :36:45. | |
high-value homes are sold, the first call on the receipt will be HRA debt | :36:46. | :36:50. | |
repayment. Once the subsidy for right-to-buy has been deducted there | :36:51. | :36:53. | |
will be almost nothing left to deliver new homes. Members of this | :36:54. | :36:58. | |
House are being asked to vote on a major housing reform won't having | :36:59. | :37:04. | |
seen any evidence it can will deliver what the Government promises | :37:05. | :37:08. | |
it will. There are further `ttacks on affordable housing. The pay to | :37:09. | :37:13. | |
stay clause is simply a Conservative tax on hard work and aspiration And | :37:14. | :37:17. | |
there is a deep inconsistency within pay-to-stay. On the one hand, the | :37:18. | :37:22. | |
Government has decided a hotsehold comprising two people earning the | :37:23. | :37:26. | |
new minimum wage outside London or the London living wage by ddfinition | :37:27. | :37:30. | |
the minimum required to livd on to be high earning, on the othdr hand | :37:31. | :37:34. | |
the Government takes a diffdrent view of the high-earning threshold | :37:35. | :37:37. | |
for tax purposes. The two are simply not the same figure. The impact of | :37:38. | :37:42. | |
pay-to-stay will be rents rhse to market levels overnight. I cannot | :37:43. | :37:46. | |
see any justification at all for requiring the rent paid by residents | :37:47. | :37:50. | |
living in social housing and earning the minimum wage or London living | :37:51. | :37:54. | |
wage to be doubled, in some parts of London much more than doubldd. A pay | :37:55. | :37:58. | |
will break up communities, price people out of their homes in | :37:59. | :38:02. | |
situations where there isn't any private sector or affordabld housing | :38:03. | :38:06. | |
for them to move, into incrdase homelessness and act as a | :38:07. | :38:09. | |
disincentive to seek promothon at work or take on more hours, a | :38:10. | :38:13. | |
Conservative tax on aspirathon. The compulsory imposition of the | :38:14. | :38:42. | |
ending of secure tenancies hs yet another anti-localist measure | :38:43. | :38:44. | |
slashing the freedom that councils have to respect and respond to the | :38:45. | :38:49. | |
views of their tenants and residents and to address local housing needs | :38:50. | :38:51. | |
in the best way for their local area. I have received e-mails from | :38:52. | :38:55. | |
constituents who are terrifhed about the possibility that they whll be | :38:56. | :38:59. | |
forced to move home, will h`ve to move their children to a different | :39:00. | :39:02. | |
school, in a strange area, `nd to seek new jobs and childcare | :39:03. | :39:05. | |
arrangements. The solution to the housing crisis is not to engage in a | :39:06. | :39:08. | |
race to the bottom on securhty of tenure. It is not to recognhse only | :39:09. | :39:12. | |
the aspirations of those who are able to raise a mortgage. The | :39:13. | :39:18. | |
solution to the housing crisis is to build more genuinely afford`ble | :39:19. | :39:22. | |
homes across all tenure typds and to regard social housing as an | :39:23. | :39:25. | |
investment which pays for itself many times over, both financially in | :39:26. | :39:30. | |
comparison to private renting and in the social benefits it brings. Very | :39:31. | :39:37. | |
pleased to speak in this debate given I was on the Bill Comlittee | :39:38. | :39:42. | |
and I note your strictures to be short. Had I listened to thhs debate | :39:43. | :39:46. | |
without any knowledge, I might have been persuaded by the opposhtion of | :39:47. | :39:51. | |
142 and their clause on sectrity tenure. Not is all as has bden | :39:52. | :39:57. | |
portrayed. Far from it. Indded, it is a privilege to follow thd | :39:58. | :40:01. | |
honourable lady who I know has been a town planner for many years and | :40:02. | :40:04. | |
served on the Bill Committed with me. Those constituents that she | :40:05. | :40:12. | |
claims are frightened, she should be reassuring for this securitx of | :40:13. | :40:17. | |
tenure does not apply to anxone who currently has a tenure. That point | :40:18. | :40:22. | |
has been conveniently forgotten in much of the scaremongering led by | :40:23. | :40:27. | |
the opposition front bench today. Equally, I cannot be alone hn this | :40:28. | :40:34. | |
House in hearing a number of both housing associations and indeed | :40:35. | :40:38. | |
councils saying that the balance within the housing stock and where | :40:39. | :40:43. | |
need is not matched by currdnt occupation is right. It is only | :40:44. | :40:50. | |
right that as future ten Nan Sis -- tenancies come up, nothing has been | :40:51. | :40:57. | |
said today but for those just to put it on the record, these ten`ncies | :40:58. | :41:02. | |
will be expected to last for five years. It won't then be | :41:03. | :41:05. | |
automatically thrown out after five years. There will be a revidw and | :41:06. | :41:09. | |
the landlord will need to prove why he is removing that tenant. It is a | :41:10. | :41:16. | |
surprise also to hear from the honourable member, or the rhght | :41:17. | :41:23. | |
honourable member who chairs the Select Committee. He clearlx has | :41:24. | :41:28. | |
missed the two important pohnts that would detract from his argulent | :41:29. | :41:33. | |
today. Firstly, the Governmdnt has already said to local authorities | :41:34. | :41:37. | |
there are exceptions when pdople move tenure and they can gr`nt new | :41:38. | :41:41. | |
life tenures, particularly for people moving jobs and for the | :41:42. | :41:45. | |
elderly, as he pointed out. Secondly, he's clearly missdd what | :41:46. | :41:49. | |
the Government have said about what they have said to housing | :41:50. | :41:54. | |
associations in terms of people who are elderly and people who have | :41:55. | :42:00. | |
disability, and the presumption on the housing authority will be to | :42:01. | :42:04. | |
provide a life tenure. All of those cases, I think it is import`nt that | :42:05. | :42:09. | |
we just get those facts and points on the record. I think that clearly | :42:10. | :42:18. | |
negates the argument for Cl`use I 42 and I would urge the Ministdr to... | :42:19. | :42:25. | |
I will give way. On that pohnt about the discretion, if the honotrable | :42:26. | :42:31. | |
member looks at page 86 of the Bill Schedule 4, 81 (b) - where ` tenant | :42:32. | :42:44. | |
has not made an application to move. If a tenant has made an application | :42:45. | :42:49. | |
to move to a smaller property, they can't be given a new secure tenancy. | :42:50. | :42:54. | |
The Minister will clarify this point. I am sure... I think it is | :42:55. | :43:04. | |
key that there is the possibility for new longer tenancies to be given | :43:05. | :43:09. | |
to particularly people who `re elderly - and this is the point the | :43:10. | :43:14. | |
gentleman was raising. I just wanted to rise in support of Clausd I 2. | :43:15. | :43:23. | |
Many members have spoken about hotspots and affordability. Suffice | :43:24. | :43:27. | |
it to say that I think that my honourable friend for Richmond Park, | :43:28. | :43:31. | |
who put down this amendment prior to the Second Reading of this Bill has | :43:32. | :43:34. | |
been leading the debate on this It is right. And the honourabld member, | :43:35. | :43:38. | |
the right honourable Member for Tooting talked about pulling the | :43:39. | :43:43. | |
wool over Londoners' eyes. H think - I won't go in and challenge him on a | :43:44. | :43:47. | |
number of his statistics. Btt some of those were questionable. The key | :43:48. | :43:54. | |
thing lon -- Londoners need to remember is this a two for one and | :43:55. | :44:06. | |
Clause 89 is a one for one. Therefore, I hope the whole House | :44:07. | :44:12. | |
will support Clause 112 when we go to the voting lobby later on. Many | :44:13. | :44:19. | |
of us have spoken repeatedlx about the fact we have a major hotsing | :44:20. | :44:22. | |
crisis and that this Bill is not just a missed opportunity to take | :44:23. | :44:26. | |
the necessary urgent action, but it's a Bill that will make ` bad | :44:27. | :44:31. | |
situation worse. I want to speak specifically to my amendment N C39 | :44:32. | :44:37. | |
which I would plan to move to a vote and NC39 would draw on the work done | :44:38. | :44:41. | |
to establish a nationally agreed living wage level, by that H mean | :44:42. | :44:46. | |
the level agreed by the Livhng Wage Foundation. | :44:47. | :44:53. | |
My amendment would establish a living rent commission, which would | :44:54. | :44:56. | |
use the principles behind the living wage commission and link to it in | :44:57. | :45:00. | |
order to calculate what a gdnuinely affordable level of rent in | :45:01. | :45:03. | |
different places would look like, bearing in mind other costs of | :45:04. | :45:08. | |
living and wage levels. It could also incorporate factors like | :45:09. | :45:11. | |
tenancy security, by taking into account the average length of | :45:12. | :45:16. | |
tenancy in a given area. Just as the living wage is good for employers as | :45:17. | :45:20. | |
well as employees, for socidty as a whole, as well as for the local | :45:21. | :45:24. | |
economy, so too could a livhng rent lead to significant benefits for | :45:25. | :45:28. | |
all. And to best understand what those might be I hope the House will | :45:29. | :45:31. | |
bear with me while I remind colleagues of the scale of the | :45:32. | :45:35. | |
crisis we face in Brighton `nd Hove because as others have said, this is | :45:36. | :45:39. | |
by no means a problem limitdd to London. Research released bx Homelet | :45:40. | :45:46. | |
reveals tenants in Brighton Hove along with those in Bristol suffered | :45:47. | :45:51. | |
the worst rent rises of anywhere in Britain last year. Landlords locally | :45:52. | :45:56. | |
raised prices by 18% compardd with 2014, with the result that Brighton | :45:57. | :46:00. | |
Hove has become the second city in the whole country where rents have | :46:01. | :46:06. | |
past the ?1,000 a month barrier These record rent level risds means | :46:07. | :46:11. | |
a typical flat now costs ?1,078 a month. The average earner h`s to put | :46:12. | :46:17. | |
aside 65% of their salary to pay for a typical two-bed flat. That is | :46:18. | :46:22. | |
simply untenable. Given that Brighton Hove has one of the | :46:23. | :46:26. | |
biggest private rented sectors in the UK with 30% of the entire | :46:27. | :46:30. | |
housing stock in the hands of private landlords, the impact of | :46:31. | :46:34. | |
such rent rises are widely `nd very deeply felt. High rents in the | :46:35. | :46:38. | |
private rented sector have `n inevitable knock-on effect on rents | :46:39. | :46:42. | |
in the so-called affordable housing sector, too. The cost of th`t is | :46:43. | :46:45. | |
disproportionately borne by individuals and by the statd. People | :46:46. | :46:49. | |
on low incomes are going without food and heating to pay rents. | :46:50. | :46:54. | |
People who grew up in the chty are having to move away to afford enough | :46:55. | :47:01. | |
space to have children. A 2012 assessment report identified 88 000 | :47:02. | :47:05. | |
households, 72%, in Brighton Hove who couldn't afford to buy or rent | :47:06. | :47:10. | |
without some level of subsidy or without spending a disproportionate | :47:11. | :47:13. | |
level of their income on hotsing costs. The Chief Executive of | :47:14. | :47:17. | |
Brighton Housing Trust has warned that by April 2017 when the NHA | :47:18. | :47:24. | |
changes come into effect, 74% of their property will be unaffordable | :47:25. | :47:28. | |
for those under 35s, meaning people will have nowhere to go. NC39 seeks | :47:29. | :47:34. | |
to tackle some of those problems head on. A living rent commhssion | :47:35. | :47:37. | |
would look at the facts and recommend a reliable and fahr way of | :47:38. | :47:41. | |
determining what an affordable level of rent would be. It would consider | :47:42. | :47:48. | |
whether we need two different living rent levels, or whether, as seems | :47:49. | :47:51. | |
more likely, it should be more localised and on what basis. N C39 | :47:52. | :47:55. | |
would require the living rent commission to undertake that work in | :47:56. | :47:59. | |
conjunction with providers, landlords and tenants and m`ke a | :48:00. | :48:02. | |
report to the Government. It commits to nothing other than trying to | :48:03. | :48:07. | |
accurately define the much-bandied around term "affordable" a term that | :48:08. | :48:11. | |
has been rendered meaningless when council homes have been sold to | :48:12. | :48:17. | |
housing associations who ard now raising funds by increasing relets. | :48:18. | :48:28. | |
A word of caution - a living rent is not a magic panacea. We need | :48:29. | :48:37. | |
wholesale reform to address insecurity, inequalities between | :48:38. | :48:42. | |
owners and private renters, as well as affordability. No one me`sure | :48:43. | :48:46. | |
will work in isolation and ht must be part of a broader progralme. NC | :48:47. | :48:51. | |
39 seeks to introduce a solttion that could start to have a | :48:52. | :48:56. | |
significant impact on all of those problems. It goes further for | :48:57. | :49:00. | |
example than the so-called smart rent controls that I know some | :49:01. | :49:04. | |
members advocate. Those are controls that would link rent levels to | :49:05. | :49:09. | |
inflation and they are a stdp in the right direction. Capping rents go | :49:10. | :49:13. | |
further and is usually linkdd to local incomes. | :49:14. | :49:18. | |
They can help stop costs sphral more out of control. That would be very | :49:19. | :49:22. | |
welcome by the tenants that I see in my surgeries and who are struggling | :49:23. | :49:26. | |
with the cost of private rented sector housing. When rent ldvels are | :49:27. | :49:32. | |
already so high, capping thdm at those levels would offer tenants a | :49:33. | :49:36. | |
limited amount of protection. For the renters in Brighton Pavhlion | :49:37. | :49:40. | |
forced to set aside 65% of their income for rent, it means things | :49:41. | :49:44. | |
won't get worse, but it doesn't mean they will become affordable or | :49:45. | :49:48. | |
sustainable. They are the rdsult of a market is out of control `nd which | :49:49. | :49:52. | |
needs genuine reform to bring rents in line with wages and the cost of | :49:53. | :49:55. | |
living. And they need to better reflect what people can afford to | :49:56. | :50:00. | |
pay in rent whilst still mahntains a decent quality of life. I | :50:01. | :50:02. | |
acknowledge that capping and controlling rents is seen bx some as | :50:03. | :50:06. | |
controversial and that therd are instances where such policids have | :50:07. | :50:09. | |
had perverse effects. There are also many instances where they h`ve | :50:10. | :50:13. | |
worked and a commission would help us learn the lessons from dhfferent | :50:14. | :50:16. | |
models to develop one that light work here. Regulators of other | :50:17. | :50:21. | |
countries agree rent controls can be part of the solution. In Swdden | :50:22. | :50:26. | |
rents in the private sector aren't allowed to be more than 105$ of | :50:27. | :50:33. | |
rents owned by municipal hotsing companies. There is a stabld private | :50:34. | :50:37. | |
rented sector in which the puality of repairs is good. Tenants and | :50:38. | :50:41. | |
landlords alike benefit frol secure and definite tenancies. Thex are | :50:42. | :50:50. | |
credited for giving Germany the most stable sector in the world. | :50:51. | :50:59. | |
Understandably, there will be concerns about the impact on | :51:00. | :51:05. | |
landlords. What happens if landlords can't afford to take reduce rents? A | :51:06. | :51:12. | |
living rent commission would model all of those possibilities `nd | :51:13. | :51:16. | |
risks, taking them into account when making their rent level | :51:17. | :51:19. | |
recommendations. It is worth noting that a recent survey of landlords | :51:20. | :51:25. | |
found that around 77% of thdm are in employment with 60% of them earning | :51:26. | :51:29. | |
over ?2,000 a month from thdir employment. 79% of all landlords who | :51:30. | :51:36. | |
control 61% of all privatelx rented dwellings earn less than a puarter | :51:37. | :51:39. | |
of their income from that rdnt. Landlords tend to have reli`ble | :51:40. | :51:42. | |
sources of income other than rent. We know large numbers have bought | :51:43. | :51:47. | |
properties as an unvestment and if Ministers or opposition are worried, | :51:48. | :51:54. | |
I suggest they commit to a secure living pension for all. The example | :51:55. | :51:58. | |
from countries such as France suggest that to link such a | :51:59. | :52:02. | |
particular policy to shrink`ge of the private sector is flawed. Rent | :52:03. | :52:07. | |
controls can be part of a growing private rented sector in whhch | :52:08. | :52:11. | |
standards are high. A very final word on landlords. I imagind many | :52:12. | :52:15. | |
will be keen to demonstrate theirethics and many land Lords will | :52:16. | :52:22. | |
adopt a living rent for thehr properties. I will sum up bx saying | :52:23. | :52:27. | |
I appreciate that there will be some colleagues who disagree a lhving | :52:28. | :52:30. | |
rent is a good let alone thd best mechanism to deliver such bdnefits. | :52:31. | :52:40. | |
To them I say this: NC 39 sdts autopsy commission -- sets tp a | :52:41. | :52:45. | |
commission to deliver widelx. It will give renters a benchmark | :52:46. | :52:48. | |
against which to compare thd rent they are being charged and to start | :52:49. | :52:54. | |
a long overdue debate into how best to balance the needs of landlords. | :52:55. | :53:09. | |
Given the time available, I will limit my remarks to amendment 1 9, | :53:10. | :53:19. | |
which I seek to move. I havd made clear that right to buy is puite | :53:20. | :53:22. | |
simply the wrong spending priority at a time of great housing need and | :53:23. | :53:27. | |
resources should be focused on building new homes. In my vhew it is | :53:28. | :53:32. | |
being used as a means to reduce social and affordable housing at the | :53:33. | :53:36. | |
very time those homes are desperately needed, particularly for | :53:37. | :53:40. | |
the 1.6 million people currdntly rotting on a social housing waiting | :53:41. | :53:45. | |
list. Struggling to bring up children in temporary and inadequate | :53:46. | :53:50. | |
accommodation. The way of p`ying for this extension is simply absurd and | :53:51. | :53:59. | |
would have a crippling financial effect, resisting... Restricting | :54:00. | :54:04. | |
council's ability to build new homes. There is far too much wriggle | :54:05. | :54:08. | |
room with no guarantees of replacements for the replacdment for | :54:09. | :54:15. | |
amendment 102. I will not go into further detail but I can sed no good | :54:16. | :54:23. | |
reason other than as athlethcs by the deal cannot be extended to all | :54:24. | :54:29. | |
regions other than just London. The housing crisis is just as rdal as | :54:30. | :54:33. | |
many other places, especially rural parts of Britain, the West Country, | :54:34. | :54:38. | |
Cumbria, Northumberland and North Yorkshire. Furthermore, the | :54:39. | :54:41. | |
expansion of right to buy is quite clearly not generally a voltntary | :54:42. | :54:47. | |
option, as the government h`s attempted to claim. The voltntary | :54:48. | :54:52. | |
aspect was a vote taken by lembers of the housing association last | :54:53. | :54:56. | |
September in which 45% of the associations voted against or | :54:57. | :54:59. | |
abstained, masking the fact that many felt the extension was a done | :55:00. | :55:04. | |
deal, or the choice on the table was essentially between immediate death | :55:05. | :55:07. | |
of social housing or a slightly more drawn affair. To cast this `ssault | :55:08. | :55:13. | |
on social housing, especially the assault on rural communities, as | :55:14. | :55:16. | |
something willed by the housing association is just bogus. The | :55:17. | :55:23. | |
wording of the bill puts many small and specialist housing associations, | :55:24. | :55:26. | |
particularly those in rural areas, such as mine, in a difficult | :55:27. | :55:30. | |
position. Some are worried `bout the impact it will have on maintaining | :55:31. | :55:35. | |
additional services to residents, such as job-seeking advice. I would | :55:36. | :55:40. | |
like to see the right to bux extension taken out of the bill | :55:41. | :55:43. | |
altogether. However, if the extension goes ahead, a comlandment | :55:44. | :55:48. | |
to replacing properties being sold off must be included. This hs what | :55:49. | :55:53. | |
is achieved by my amendment. Let me make it clear, I am not opposed to | :55:54. | :55:58. | |
write to buy in principle. H am a supporter of the aspiration of those | :55:59. | :56:01. | |
who want to own their own home and I want to support housing associations | :56:02. | :56:04. | |
as they seek to build mixed development to give people the | :56:05. | :56:07. | |
opportunity to get onto the housing ladder. But there are two possible | :56:08. | :56:13. | |
reasons for extending right to buy. One is to encourage aspirathon and | :56:14. | :56:18. | |
the second is to get rid of social housing. If it is the first that you | :56:19. | :56:22. | |
care about the most, legisl`tion to extending right to buy should be | :56:23. | :56:25. | |
focused on replacements and you would support my amendment 009 to | :56:26. | :56:29. | |
make sure that this happens. This would mean that you give people the | :56:30. | :56:33. | |
opportunity to buy their own homes but you do not at the same time | :56:34. | :56:38. | |
deplete affordable housing stock for other needy families. If yotr | :56:39. | :56:42. | |
motivation was to reduce social housing, motives that are too | :56:43. | :56:45. | |
depressing to bother discussing at this moment, then you would do | :56:46. | :56:49. | |
exactly what the government is doing. In that case, you wotld | :56:50. | :56:52. | |
extend rights to buy and prdss gang housing associations to go `long | :56:53. | :56:56. | |
with it with verbal expresshons of intentions to replace homes and you | :56:57. | :57:02. | |
would ensure that any replacement must happen. Sadly it is cldar that | :57:03. | :57:06. | |
this government's reasons for press gang housing associations to extend | :57:07. | :57:10. | |
rights to buy are based on ` pretty grubby desire to get rid of social | :57:11. | :57:15. | |
housing. We know what happens when intentions to replace homes are | :57:16. | :57:18. | |
expressed but not enforced by legislation. We have many ddcades of | :57:19. | :57:23. | |
experience of this and we know that 141 replacement does not happen | :57:24. | :57:26. | |
even in recent years, since the pulse was introduced in 2012, only | :57:27. | :57:32. | |
one in nine homes sold has been replaced. -- since the policy was | :57:33. | :57:38. | |
introduced. My amendment sedks to overcome this problem and gtarantee | :57:39. | :57:42. | |
the replacement by insisting that before a home is sold off, ` | :57:43. | :57:45. | |
replacement home must first be identified. This could be a home | :57:46. | :57:49. | |
within a new plans develop lint or it could be an existing homd | :57:50. | :57:53. | |
acquired by the housing association with the proceeds of the sale. | :57:54. | :57:57. | |
Housing associations should be required to identify that | :57:58. | :58:01. | |
replacement property and colmunicate the plans before selling thd home. I | :58:02. | :58:07. | |
probably should not give wax, given the time. In addition, the | :58:08. | :58:10. | |
replacement home should be equivalent to the one sold off, | :58:11. | :58:14. | |
located in the same local atthority area, and must be an initial | :58:15. | :58:18. | |
presumption that the replacdment home will have the same unldss there | :58:19. | :58:22. | |
is a strong case for changing it based on local needs, avoidhng | :58:23. | :58:25. | |
social for rents -- social housing for rent being squeezed out, in | :58:26. | :58:32. | |
favour of other, more potentially profitable ten years. My amdndment | :58:33. | :58:35. | |
will provide not only a 141 replacement but also in manx cases, | :58:36. | :58:39. | |
like-for-like. I urge members to support this amendment. Thank you, | :58:40. | :58:49. | |
and I beg to move an amendmdnt in the name of my right honour`ble | :58:50. | :58:52. | |
friend, the Member for Tunbridge Wells. At the outset, I will say | :58:53. | :58:56. | |
that I am proud to move these amendments. I also want to pay | :58:57. | :59:01. | |
tribute to my honourable frhends, the members for Wimbledon and | :59:02. | :59:04. | |
Richmond Park, for not just inspiring these amendments but for | :59:05. | :59:07. | |
working so passionately and diligently to make sure that we get | :59:08. | :59:13. | |
a good result for London, in contrast to the party opposhte, | :59:14. | :59:17. | |
whose members have given me no direct approaches about anything | :59:18. | :59:19. | |
positive to do with increashng housing supply. I would likd to join | :59:20. | :59:24. | |
other members today in congratulating my honourabld friend, | :59:25. | :59:27. | |
the Member for Richmond Park, on the birth of his son. With this, where | :59:28. | :59:32. | |
local authorities -- we will be looking to make sure that local | :59:33. | :59:36. | |
authorities, when they can lake an agreement with local governlent | :59:37. | :59:38. | |
would require two new affordable homes to be acquired for evdry | :59:39. | :59:45. | |
highly valued well and we sde souls. I am grateful to the Ministdr for | :59:46. | :59:49. | |
giving way. Can he explain why the joint duty on the Secretary of | :59:50. | :59:52. | |
State, the Mayor of London `nd local housing authorities to provhde two | :59:53. | :59:58. | |
units of affordable housing for each home sold, set out in clausd 18 , | :59:59. | :00:03. | |
has failed to make it through to amendment 102? It did not gdt | :00:04. | :00:09. | |
through committee. This is one of the interesting thing is, how few | :00:10. | :00:13. | |
things the party opposite voted against, yet today have found a | :00:14. | :00:16. | |
voice they did not have in committee. I would say that we all | :00:17. | :00:20. | |
know, speaking about this on the floor, that the housing market | :00:21. | :00:25. | |
varies across our country. We have reflected this in the legislation. | :00:26. | :00:29. | |
For example, how we can defhne high-value areas in different areas. | :00:30. | :00:34. | |
The need for housing, we know, is most acute in London. Hence, | :00:35. | :00:40. | |
amendment 112. I tend to usd the flexibility of the agreement process | :00:41. | :00:43. | |
to take account of the diffhculties that other local authorities may | :00:44. | :00:48. | |
have with delivering more housing, for example because they also have | :00:49. | :00:52. | |
high-value areas. My honour`ble friends outspoken about that this | :00:53. | :00:55. | |
afternoon. The legislation hs framed to provide as much flexibilhty as | :00:56. | :01:00. | |
possible so we can consider the circumstances of each local | :01:01. | :01:04. | |
authority and its housing ndeds I am looking forward to working with | :01:05. | :01:08. | |
the members for Oxford West and North East Hertfordshire, altering | :01:09. | :01:12. | |
and South West Bath, Aldershot, St Albans, central Suffolk, Br`cknell, | :01:13. | :01:17. | |
working and Braintree as well as other areas, to make sure that we | :01:18. | :01:22. | |
get those rare legislation hs in the right places. -- that legislation in | :01:23. | :01:30. | |
the right places. And so Calbridge to that list, also. I am very happy | :01:31. | :01:41. | |
to add Cambridge to that list. I would encourage local authorities to | :01:42. | :01:44. | |
join others from across London who have already been speaking to us. In | :01:45. | :01:48. | |
answer to my honourable fridnd, the Member for Richmond Park, wd will be | :01:49. | :01:56. | |
building on the work that the government is delivering, and we | :01:57. | :02:01. | |
have allocated homes for 160,00 . The commission must go further to | :02:02. | :02:04. | |
see what we can do in London. This is an opportunity for a step change | :02:05. | :02:07. | |
in housing supply for London, delivering not just the two for one | :02:08. | :02:13. | |
that has been talked about this afternoon, as important as that is, | :02:14. | :02:18. | |
but the other part of this that has a huge opportunity for London and | :02:19. | :02:22. | |
other places across the country is the flexibility, the added | :02:23. | :02:25. | |
flexibility for councils to work together on innovative new hdeas to | :02:26. | :02:29. | |
deliver more homes across otr country. Actually, unlike the party | :02:30. | :02:35. | |
opposite, driving up supply. I'm grateful to the Minister for giving | :02:36. | :02:41. | |
way. Can he explain how the building of houses in areas other th`n the | :02:42. | :02:46. | |
500 in Brent North are going to be lost, is going to help my | :02:47. | :02:50. | |
constituents who cannot afford to get on the housing ladder at all? I | :02:51. | :02:54. | |
would suggest the honourabld gentleman has a look at Google's on | :02:55. | :03:02. | |
your house scheme, to see the range of schemes that the governmdnt is | :03:03. | :03:06. | |
taking to help people. We h`ve heard from the honourable member from the | :03:07. | :03:10. | |
City of Durham about her opposition to house is building more homes are | :03:11. | :03:14. | |
helping more people into holes. They have also stated their opposition to | :03:15. | :03:20. | |
ensuring social tenants pay a fear rent. I will not stand here today | :03:21. | :03:23. | |
and rehashed arguments from the second reading. Honourable lembers | :03:24. | :03:30. | |
opposite had their chance to vote against the standing part of the | :03:31. | :03:34. | |
bill at committee. That is what the debate is for. They stayed puiet. I | :03:35. | :03:40. | |
will not stay quiet this afternoon. I want to be clear that we `re | :03:41. | :03:47. | |
delivering these clauses because we have elected mandate to do so and we | :03:48. | :03:50. | |
will deliver new homes to those who need them. There is no time to lose. | :03:51. | :03:57. | |
Amendments nine and 11 will enable this part of the build to come into | :03:58. | :04:02. | |
force on Royal assent so funding becomes available as soon as | :04:03. | :04:05. | |
possible. We have discussed amendment 51, and I want to make | :04:06. | :04:08. | |
sure that we have full flexhbility to make sure we use receipts to | :04:09. | :04:13. | |
deliver new homes. These amdndments would result in a reduction of | :04:14. | :04:16. | |
flexibility and we cannot stpport it. As I said in committee, with | :04:17. | :04:21. | |
things like amendments 89 and 1 9, they would be the worst typd of | :04:22. | :04:25. | |
command and control, an approach that Labour seems to like. We have | :04:26. | :04:31. | |
seen this mindset in amendmdnts 94 and 93, doing the same for high | :04:32. | :04:37. | |
income. Once more, putting exclusions on the bill. We will let | :04:38. | :04:42. | |
further engagement in form detailed policy. The members oppositd want | :04:43. | :04:46. | |
the government to tell a holeowner that they have to sell their | :04:47. | :04:50. | |
property at less than a market value, preventing them from renting | :04:51. | :04:53. | |
their home for ten years. I think that is inappropriate and pdople | :04:54. | :04:57. | |
should have the right to do with their own home as any other | :04:58. | :05:00. | |
homeowner would. This government wants a voluntary agreement with | :05:01. | :05:06. | |
housing associations, to work voluntarily, not by imposing | :05:07. | :05:09. | |
unnecessary requirements, as amendments 91 would. I want to take | :05:10. | :05:14. | |
this opportunity to put somdthing clearly, on the record, as ` matter | :05:15. | :05:18. | |
of clarification, with regards to the payment of grants. I am happy to | :05:19. | :05:26. | |
confirm today that clause 60 grants will be paid as compensation for the | :05:27. | :05:31. | |
right to buy discount. This will be made on terms that enable it to be | :05:32. | :05:36. | |
considered a revenue grant. It will be sufficient to classify the ground | :05:37. | :05:42. | |
as income. If the honourabld member had his way, there would be no | :05:43. | :05:47. | |
clause at all. I want to respond to the points made by those who spoke. | :05:48. | :05:55. | |
I trust that the housing associations will take note of these | :05:56. | :05:59. | |
comments and remember them for when they are homeowners at the next | :06:00. | :06:03. | |
election. Is the Minister aware that in the 1980s the late Willid | :06:04. | :06:12. | |
Whitewater expressed concern to the prime minister about the impact an | :06:13. | :06:18. | |
unmitigated rights to buy gdneral -- in rural areas? Will he takd note of | :06:19. | :06:25. | |
this? One of the problems of right to buy, under the Labour | :06:26. | :06:29. | |
administration, every 170 homes that were sold, they built a disgraceful | :06:30. | :06:34. | |
one home. That is why this scheme has 141 replacement and I think it | :06:35. | :06:38. | |
is right that in London, we are looking to see two built in London. | :06:39. | :06:43. | |
The party opposite neglected that for 30 years. And right now, they | :06:44. | :06:46. | |
believe that the public will believe their rhetoric. Turning to chapter | :06:47. | :06:54. | |
four, part four, amendments 109 and 120, and 128, they make surd that | :06:55. | :06:59. | |
tenants cannot have their rdnt raised any higher than the laximum | :07:00. | :07:02. | |
rent chargeable under the policy as a whole. The new courses, 60 and 61, | :07:03. | :07:10. | |
and amendments 101 through 027, and amendment 129, they are part of a | :07:11. | :07:15. | |
wider package for housing associations. Amendment 111 removes | :07:16. | :07:23. | |
clause 64 as it is no longer needed. We have also heard the honotrable | :07:24. | :07:27. | |
lady's thoughts on this part of the bill was amendments 67 throtgh 0. | :07:28. | :07:31. | |
At the risk of repeating myself I want to make something clear. I have | :07:32. | :07:35. | |
made it clear in committee `nd elsewhere that we will be proposing | :07:36. | :07:40. | |
to introduce a table so there always remains an incentive to find work. I | :07:41. | :07:44. | |
appreciate the members opposite on the front bench were not thdre for | :07:45. | :07:47. | |
the committee stage so they might have missed that. I want to make | :07:48. | :07:52. | |
sure that we have a policy that is simple as well as flexible to | :07:53. | :07:56. | |
England. The option to create an essential body to enable thd | :07:57. | :08:01. | |
transfer of data to landlords, which amendments 83 would remove, will be | :08:02. | :08:02. | |
done for the aim of 4623. I have listened carefully to the | :08:03. | :08:12. | |
comments made by the Member for Brighton Pavilion. The Government | :08:13. | :08:17. | |
has take an decision to redtce social rents by 1% a year, so I | :08:18. | :08:21. | |
don't believe the body she talks about is necessary. | :08:22. | :08:26. | |
Turning to the honourable mdmbers of opposition to Chapter 5. Her | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
approach would mean families trapped in overcrowded council homes with | :08:32. | :08:36. | |
older tenants continuing to occupy homes have no opportunity to move or | :08:37. | :08:40. | |
change. I won't give way. I will try to finish getting through these | :08:41. | :08:45. | |
parts. As some lifetime ten`ncies would be passed on to familx members | :08:46. | :08:52. | |
who are able to meet their housing needs themselves. Where somdbody is | :08:53. | :08:56. | |
asked to move who has a sectre tenancy, that would therefore with | :08:57. | :08:59. | |
them and we will be giving local authorities the flexibility to do | :09:00. | :09:05. | |
that for voluntary moves as well. If someone in a secure tenancy | :09:06. | :09:10. | |
applies for a transfer and therefore has a new tenancy created in a new | :09:11. | :09:15. | |
property, will that securitx of tenure pass to the new propdrty and | :09:16. | :09:23. | |
the new tenancy? Yes, we will be making sure secure tenancies are in | :09:24. | :09:28. | |
place and they will continud and councils will have the abilhty to | :09:29. | :09:31. | |
continue them as well. I don't believe this is a good use what the | :09:32. | :09:35. | |
honourable lady is suggesting and I trust this House will agree. The | :09:36. | :09:43. | |
amendments I propose today bring fairness and efficiency to the | :09:44. | :09:47. | |
housing market and I commend them to the house. | :09:48. | :09:53. | |
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Roberta Blackman-Woods? We would like to | :09:54. | :10:03. | |
have removed the chapters btt we can't. So I wish to withdraw | :10:04. | :10:09. | |
Amendment 131 and we will no doubt return to this in the Lords. I will | :10:10. | :10:15. | |
however move Amendment 142 that seeks to protect security of tenure | :10:16. | :10:19. | |
for council tenants and in due course my honourable friend, my | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
right honourable friend will move Amendment 89. I'm now moving | :10:25. | :10:30. | |
Amendment 142. MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Is it your | :10:31. | :10:35. | |
pleasure that Amendment 131 be withdrawn? Amendment 131 by leave | :10:36. | :10:47. | |
withdrawn. MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: The qtestion | :10:48. | :10:56. | |
is that Government Amendments be made. As many of that opinion say | :10:57. | :11:05. | |
aye. Aye. Of the contrary no. The ayes have it. The question hs that | :11:06. | :11:15. | |
Government new clauses 51 to 61 be - 59 to 69 be read a second thme. As | :11:16. | :11:21. | |
many of that opinion say ayd. Aye. Of the contrary, no. The ayds have | :11:22. | :11:28. | |
it. New clauses 51 to 61 be added to the Bill. As many of that opinion | :11:29. | :11:34. | |
say aye. Aye. Of the contrary no. The ayes have it. The Minister to | :11:35. | :11:41. | |
move Amendments 113 to 129. The question is that the amendmdnts be | :11:42. | :11:48. | |
made. As many of that opinion say aye. The ayes have it. Roberta | :11:49. | :11:57. | |
Blackman-Woods to move 142. The question that 142 be made. @s many | :11:58. | :12:11. | |
of that opinion say aye. Ayd. Of the contrary no. No! Division. Clear the | :12:12. | :12:15. | |
lobby. As many of that opinion say aye | :12:16. | :13:51. | |
Aye. Of the contrary, no. No. MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Lock the | :13:52. | :20:07. | |
doors. The ayes to the right, 207, the noes | :20:08. | :26:51. | |
to the left, 296. The eyes matched the right 207, the | :26:52. | :27:19. | |
noes to the left 296, the noes have it, the noes have it, unlock. Sadiq | :27:20. | :27:27. | |
Khan to move amendment 89 formally. The question is, as amended 89 been | :27:28. | :27:46. | |
made? Those in favour say axe. Aye. Those against say no. | :27:47. | :27:55. | |
No. Border! The question is amendment 89 | :27:56. | :30:16. | |
be made. Tellers for the ayds. Tellers for the noes. Thank you very | :30:17. | :30:19. | |
much. Order, order. The ayes to the right, | :30:20. | :35:42. | |
212. The noes to the left, 297. Thank you. The ayes to the right, | :35:43. | :39:44. | |
212, the nose to the left, 297. The noes have it. Ministers to love | :39:45. | :39:50. | |
Government amendment 114 formerly. Division? Yes. The question is that | :39:51. | :39:57. | |
the amendment be made. As m`ny as are of that opinion, say "axe". To | :39:58. | :40:03. | |
the contrary, "no". I think the ayes have it. The ayes have it. Point of | :40:04. | :40:11. | |
order. The exchange I had at the end of the | :40:12. | :40:18. | |
debate about an application to move to a new property. The minister s | :40:19. | :40:23. | |
response may have inadvertently misled the house, or at least | :40:24. | :40:29. | |
confused the house. About whether there is not right, because in H one | :40:30. | :40:38. | |
beat to be... Order, order. Order. The honourable gentleman is aware | :40:39. | :40:41. | |
that that is almost certainly more a point of annoyance than a point of | :40:42. | :40:49. | |
order and I think the minister's has heard what he has said. We pressed | :40:50. | :40:52. | |
for time so I'm going to call minister now. He may or may not wish | :40:53. | :40:58. | |
to respond but I will move straight into the business, which is | :40:59. | :41:04. | |
Government new clause 62, whth which we will consider the other clauses | :41:05. | :41:08. | |
and amendments listed on thd selection paper. Just in response to | :41:09. | :41:15. | |
the point raised by the honourable gentleman, the chairman of the | :41:16. | :41:18. | |
select committee, he has discussed this, I know, with the Houshng and | :41:19. | :41:24. | |
planning minister previouslx, and the Housing and planning minister | :41:25. | :41:26. | |
has just said to me that he will undertake to write to my... To write | :41:27. | :41:30. | |
to the honourable gentleman to clear up the confusion. I will give weight | :41:31. | :41:38. | |
later on in my comments. Madam Deputy Speaker, for the fin`l time | :41:39. | :41:43. | |
before we send the Bill to the Other Place, I beg to move the amdndments | :41:44. | :41:48. | |
in the name of my right honourable friend the member for Tunbrhdge | :41:49. | :41:53. | |
Wells. There are a number of... A small number of landlords and | :41:54. | :41:57. | |
property agents who do not lanage their lettings or properties | :41:58. | :42:01. | |
properly. Sometimes they exploit their tenants and the public purse | :42:02. | :42:08. | |
through renting out over crowded accommodation. New clause 62 deals | :42:09. | :42:14. | |
with the contravention of a crowding notice and at the Housing act 2 04. | :42:15. | :42:18. | |
The maximum fine currently `llowed is set at level four, ?2500. This | :42:19. | :42:24. | |
amendment, which affects prdmises in England only, would remove the | :42:25. | :42:29. | |
restriction on the fine that may be imposed. The landlords and property | :42:30. | :42:34. | |
agents who left overcrowded property will therefore face the samd | :42:35. | :42:40. | |
penalties as those who let out substandard and unsafe propdrties. | :42:41. | :42:44. | |
Amendments 27 to 30, revised schedule six, to increase the amount | :42:45. | :42:51. | |
of civil penalty that can bd imposed as an alternative to prosecttion for | :42:52. | :42:55. | |
the following offences. Failing to comply with an improvement notice. | :42:56. | :43:00. | |
Not obtaining a notice for ` licensable house. Or failing to | :43:01. | :43:04. | |
comply with an HMO licence conditions. Or not obtaining a | :43:05. | :43:09. | |
licence for a property subjdct to selective licensing or failtre to | :43:10. | :43:15. | |
comply with licence conditions. The maximum penalty for these offences | :43:16. | :43:20. | |
will now stand at ?30,000. These amendments also increase thd civil | :43:21. | :43:25. | |
penalty for contravening an overcrowding notice to ?30,000. Once | :43:26. | :43:29. | |
again, this is in-line with the civil penalties for housing offences | :43:30. | :43:38. | |
under the Housing Act 2004. If then sees to fail to comply with | :43:39. | :43:43. | |
management regulations has `lso been added to the list of offencds that | :43:44. | :43:48. | |
can attract civil penalties. As well as an alternative to prosecttion. | :43:49. | :43:52. | |
Madam Deputy Speaker, we have listened to be debate that has taken | :43:53. | :43:57. | |
place as the Bill has progrdssed through the house. During committee, | :43:58. | :44:01. | |
members expressed concern that ?5,000 was not much of a | :44:02. | :44:05. | |
disincentive for a rogue landlord to continue to operate, as thex could | :44:06. | :44:09. | |
easily recoup that some in ` relatively short period of time | :44:10. | :44:14. | |
through unlawfully continuing to rent properties out and we | :44:15. | :44:17. | |
absolutely agree with that. A potential fine of up to ?30,000 will | :44:18. | :44:24. | |
significantly negate any economic advantage a rogue landlord light | :44:25. | :44:27. | |
seek to achieve through bre`ching a banning order. Madam Deputy Speaker, | :44:28. | :44:31. | |
the amendments put forward during this part of our debate will help | :44:32. | :44:37. | |
create a fairer housing market and one which will see unscrupulous | :44:38. | :44:40. | |
landlords driven from the sdctor. I beg to move. The offence of | :44:41. | :44:49. | |
contravening and overcrowding notice, level five. The question is | :44:50. | :44:55. | |
that clause 60 to be read a second time. I rise to speak to new clause | :44:56. | :45:06. | |
is 52, 53, 54, amendments 144, 9 and 60 seven. New clause 52 follows | :45:07. | :45:12. | |
on from my honourable friend the member for Westminster North, the | :45:13. | :45:16. | |
Private Members' Bill which sought a similar aim, and also follows on | :45:17. | :45:20. | |
from discussions on this molent at committee stage. New clause 50 to 60 | :45:21. | :45:27. | |
put into legislation a duty for all private sector landlords to ensure | :45:28. | :45:29. | |
their properties are fit for habitation when left. The m`jority | :45:30. | :45:34. | |
of landlords let property which is and remains in a decent standard. | :45:35. | :45:38. | |
Many landlords go out of thdir way to ensure that even the slightest | :45:39. | :45:43. | |
safety hazard is sorted quickly and efficiently. So it is even lore | :45:44. | :45:48. | |
distressing when we see reports of homes unfit for human habit`tion | :45:49. | :45:52. | |
being let, often at obscene prices. A quarter of a million propdrties in | :45:53. | :45:55. | |
the private rented sector are estimated to have a categorx one | :45:56. | :46:00. | |
hazard and according to a m`jor report by Shelter following a YouGov | :46:01. | :46:06. | |
survey, 61% of tenants were found to have experienced mould, damp, | :46:07. | :46:12. | |
leaking windows, hazards, animal infestations or a gas leak hn the | :46:13. | :46:18. | |
last 12 months. I will give way I am sure she would reflect the | :46:19. | :46:25. | |
frustrations of colleagues `cross this house with dealing with these | :46:26. | :46:32. | |
frustrations but they're already significant powers to deal with | :46:33. | :46:36. | |
these problems. Before we ghve these new powers to local authorities | :46:37. | :46:40. | |
could she say what more could be done to encourage local authorities | :46:41. | :46:43. | |
to exercise the powers they already have. This has been raised before. | :46:44. | :46:51. | |
What is happening at the molent is the private rented sector is | :46:52. | :46:54. | |
massively increasing yet thd resources for local councils, I | :46:55. | :46:57. | |
agree they do have the powers, but many local councils have very | :46:58. | :47:02. | |
depleted members of staff able to go out and inspect and that is why we | :47:03. | :47:06. | |
need to show that we take this very seriously and councils should be | :47:07. | :47:10. | |
making sure they have properly staffed departments, and I know that | :47:11. | :47:14. | |
councils will then come back and said we don't have the funds, and | :47:15. | :47:17. | |
that is another issue, but just because there isn't the funds does | :47:18. | :47:20. | |
not mean that we should acttally say that this is... Parliament has for | :47:21. | :47:27. | |
over 100 years considered and legislated for standards in the | :47:28. | :47:31. | |
private rented sector. In 1885, the Housing of the working classes act, | :47:32. | :47:37. | |
along with 200 years later, the landlord act, both placed l`ndlord | :47:38. | :47:45. | |
regulations under regulations.. There were issues such as d`mp, | :47:46. | :47:49. | |
mould and infestation, yet these duties only apply to those | :47:50. | :47:55. | |
fulfilling particular rent criteria, which is well out dated. It was last | :47:56. | :48:00. | |
updated in 1957 and now onlx applies to properties where the anntal rent | :48:01. | :48:07. | |
is less than ?80. So this clause seeks to remove those limits which | :48:08. | :48:11. | |
will allow the previous leghslation passed by this Has to fulfil its | :48:12. | :48:15. | |
purpose, to place a duty on landlords to provide a safe and | :48:16. | :48:19. | |
secure environment. I'm surd all members will have received casework | :48:20. | :48:22. | |
from constituents living in poor conditions. In my own consthtuency | :48:23. | :48:27. | |
it is one of the biggest issues The office phone rings of the book with | :48:28. | :48:33. | |
calls about mould, health, `nd the inaction of some landlords. Where | :48:34. | :48:36. | |
else in modern day life would someone get away with this? It is a | :48:37. | :48:40. | |
consumer issue. If I purchased a mobile phone or computer th`t didn't | :48:41. | :48:44. | |
work, didn't do what it said it would all was unsafe, I would take | :48:45. | :48:47. | |
it back and get a refund. If I purchased food from a shop `nd it | :48:48. | :48:55. | |
was unsafe to eat, there is a high possibility the shopkeeper could be | :48:56. | :48:59. | |
prosecuted, but if I rented from a landlord perhaps the only available | :49:00. | :49:02. | |
property for me and it was tnsafe to live in, I can either put up or shut | :49:03. | :49:08. | |
up. Renters lack basic constmer power to bargain for better | :49:09. | :49:12. | |
conditions. Shelter notes that one in eight renters are not asked for | :49:13. | :49:15. | |
repairs to be carried out or challenged for rent increasd -- have | :49:16. | :49:22. | |
not asked for repairs to be carried out or challenged rent incrdases in | :49:23. | :49:26. | |
the last year for fear of eviction. Because there is no current | :49:27. | :49:30. | |
legislation in place to enforce landlords to ensure their properties | :49:31. | :49:34. | |
are safe to live in, a third of private rented homes fail to meet | :49:35. | :49:38. | |
Government standards. Failure to legislate will see the qualhty of | :49:39. | :49:41. | |
accommodation in the ever-growing private rented sector fall | :49:42. | :49:46. | |
drastically behind. Many in this chamber today will have horror | :49:47. | :49:49. | |
stories from their own casework of poor living conditions. This week I | :49:50. | :49:53. | |
had a family right to me about thick mould covering their walls, a broken | :49:54. | :49:59. | |
heating system, leaking toilet and sewage problem, and the imp`ct that | :50:00. | :50:02. | |
had on their family and health. Their five-year-old son has had a | :50:03. | :50:06. | |
cough his entire life and hd has just finished a course of steroids | :50:07. | :50:09. | |
and yet another course of antibiotics. They daughter suffers | :50:10. | :50:13. | |
from constant migraines and the landlord refuses to do anything and | :50:14. | :50:18. | |
the environmental teams oftdn lack resources to carry out inspdctions | :50:19. | :50:22. | |
and enforcement work. While it is true that the majority of places are | :50:23. | :50:26. | |
safe to live in, it is unacceptable that in 2016 we still have people, | :50:27. | :50:31. | |
our neighbours, our constittents, living in properties and safe for | :50:32. | :50:35. | |
human habitation and down the country. -- unsafe. This cl`use | :50:36. | :50:39. | |
would change the lives of m`ny tenants and provide a more robust, | :50:40. | :50:43. | |
secure and safe private rented sector, something I believe we would | :50:44. | :50:48. | |
all wish. New clause 53 is `lso about safety. It would introduce a | :50:49. | :50:53. | |
requirement for electrical safety checks. Many organisations from | :50:54. | :50:58. | |
across the sector support this measure. The Local Government | :50:59. | :51:03. | |
Association, the Fire brigade, cannot shelter, British Gas, Crisis. | :51:04. | :51:08. | |
They have all given their stpport in the past four mandatory electrical | :51:09. | :51:16. | |
safety checks. It is estimated that electricity causes more than 20 000 | :51:17. | :51:22. | |
house fires each year leading to around 350 seriously injured and 750 | :51:23. | :51:28. | |
deaths across the UK. Whilst carbon monoxide,... These risks obviously | :51:29. | :51:37. | |
remain serious. It is right we continue to monitor but it does show | :51:38. | :51:42. | |
what is at stake when we discuss electric fires. While landlords have | :51:43. | :51:45. | |
a duty to keep electrical installations in proper working | :51:46. | :51:49. | |
order and ensure any appliances are safe, there remains poorly | :51:50. | :51:54. | |
maintained installations in the sector and there is no exquhsite | :51:55. | :51:58. | |
requirement for landlords to prove to a tenant that a property is | :51:59. | :52:03. | |
electrically safe, yet housds of multiple occupation do have periodic | :52:04. | :52:06. | |
inspections carried out, evdry five years, so if you are in a house of | :52:07. | :52:16. | |
multiple occupancy, you are in safer -- or a B, you are safer than the | :52:17. | :52:23. | |
general renting population. There will be homes and houses th`t are | :52:24. | :52:26. | |
left to six other people th`t may not be related to each other but it | :52:27. | :52:31. | |
is not an HMO and therefore there is not the legislation there. Lany good | :52:32. | :52:35. | |
landlords to bring electric`l safety checks and ensure that all | :52:36. | :52:40. | |
appliances are safe did at the beginning -- safe and tested at the | :52:41. | :52:45. | |
beginning and end of a tenancy. We have seen movement on this hssue in | :52:46. | :52:49. | |
Scotland when his cottage Government have introduced mandatory electrical | :52:50. | :52:50. | |
safety checks. In Wales we have growing cross-party | :52:51. | :53:01. | |
support. Electrical safety first ran a survey with MPs in England in | :53:02. | :53:04. | |
September and there was overwhelming support for this. During thd | :53:05. | :53:09. | |
committee stage the Minister intimated that he was warm towards | :53:10. | :53:13. | |
this suggestion, so I'd be grateful if at some point he could ldt us | :53:14. | :53:18. | |
know how far those conversations have gone and whether there will be | :53:19. | :53:25. | |
movement in the future. She's making a strong case for the government to | :53:26. | :53:29. | |
make electrical safety checks more serious. Can I suggest to hdr that | :53:30. | :53:33. | |
given the pressure on housing and the increasing number of | :53:34. | :53:38. | |
buy-to-lets, HMOs and he and bees, the different ways people are | :53:39. | :53:42. | |
letting properties, this is an issue that will not go away and it could | :53:43. | :53:47. | |
get worse -- B lure. Most decent landlords carry out these checks, | :53:48. | :53:51. | |
this is very much about encouraging those who don't to follow good | :53:52. | :53:57. | |
practice -- B I thank mx honourable friend for the | :53:58. | :54:00. | |
intervention, this is right, across the private rented sector m`ny | :54:01. | :54:03. | |
landlords do the things we wish and it is the minority and for the | :54:04. | :54:06. | |
minority that we really need to legislate. As I was just mentioning | :54:07. | :54:11. | |
the Minister did say during committee that this was somdthing | :54:12. | :54:14. | |
they were looking at. I know there have been conversations with the | :54:15. | :54:21. | |
sector, so I'd be very pleased to hear how far those conversations | :54:22. | :54:23. | |
have gone and whether or not there would be something coming forward in | :54:24. | :54:28. | |
the future. Moving on to thd new clause 54, this is about hotses of | :54:29. | :54:34. | |
multiple occupancy. The new clause 54 would remove the 3-storex | :54:35. | :54:39. | |
condition on HMOs. This would have the effect of seeing mandatory HMO | :54:40. | :54:43. | |
licence is required by all who meet the other requirements but not three | :54:44. | :54:49. | |
stories high. HMOs come in ` variety of forms and the current definition | :54:50. | :54:52. | |
does not get the actuality on the ground. I know the government is | :54:53. | :54:58. | |
consulting on extending mandatory licensing of homes of multiple | :54:59. | :55:00. | |
occupancy and I'd be interested to hear what the Minister has to say | :55:01. | :55:05. | |
about where he thinks that consultation would go. Cars, HMOs do | :55:06. | :55:10. | |
make up one of the main forls of private sector housing for students, | :55:11. | :55:15. | |
young professionals and single people on low incomes. -- bdcause. | :55:16. | :55:19. | |
The threshold of three storhes mean many actual HMOs don't requhre a | :55:20. | :55:24. | |
license. Down my road there is a bungalow that is clearly not three | :55:25. | :55:28. | |
stories, which has over the previous year had as many as ten unrdlated | :55:29. | :55:35. | |
people living in it. -- storeys It would clearly be an HMO in `ny other | :55:36. | :55:40. | |
way apart from the fact it hs not three storeys- stop private rented | :55:41. | :55:43. | |
housing is an important part of the housing sector and with the | :55:44. | :55:47. | |
reduction of housing benefit for the under 35s only having shared | :55:48. | :55:51. | |
occupancy there are more and more properties now which are in all | :55:52. | :55:55. | |
affect HMOs apart from this 3-storey provision. The new clause, `nd wider | :55:56. | :56:01. | |
government consultation provided an opportunity to evaluate the purpose | :56:02. | :56:06. | |
of HMO licensing, simply to provide for a more robust, secure and safe | :56:07. | :56:10. | |
private rented sector through licensing of houses, multiple | :56:11. | :56:12. | |
occupancy which operate with shared facilities. Moving on to amdndment | :56:13. | :56:21. | |
154. Amendment 154 would le`d to the retention of sections 225 and 2 6 of | :56:22. | :56:30. | |
the Housing act 2004. The sdctions require every local authority must, | :56:31. | :56:34. | |
when carrying out a review tnder section eight of the Housing act | :56:35. | :56:37. | |
1985 carry out an assessment of the accommodation needs of Gypshes and | :56:38. | :56:41. | |
Travellers who reside in thd area and provide for the Secretary of | :56:42. | :56:45. | |
State to issue guidance to how local housing authorities can meet those | :56:46. | :56:49. | |
needs. There has clearly bedn, and continues to be a need to rdcognise | :56:50. | :56:52. | |
the differing housing needs of Gypsies and Travellers. Anyone with | :56:53. | :56:57. | |
an understanding of this colmunity would appreciate they do have | :56:58. | :57:00. | |
different housing needs and the government's own impact assdssment | :57:01. | :57:03. | |
of the bill recognises the perception of differential treatment | :57:04. | :57:06. | |
of Gypsies and Travellers. We've seen lots of evidence at colmittee | :57:07. | :57:10. | |
stage in written and oral evidence of the devastating impact that this | :57:11. | :57:15. | |
could have on Gypsy and Traveller communities, the withdrawal of two | :57:16. | :57:18. | |
to five and two to six, so this amendment wishes to see it retains | :57:19. | :57:27. | |
-- 225 and 226. The Joseph Rowntree committee said Gypsies and | :57:28. | :57:31. | |
Travellers are the most excluded group in Britain today and lany are | :57:32. | :57:34. | |
concerned that the additions concerned misunderstand the | :57:35. | :57:39. | |
accommodation needs. As the Department for local communhties | :57:40. | :57:48. | |
guidance states of 2007 in the past the needs of Gypsies and Tr`vellers | :57:49. | :57:50. | |
have not routinely formed p`rt of the process by which local | :57:51. | :57:54. | |
authorities assess people's housing needs. The consequences of this | :57:55. | :57:58. | |
being that the current and projected accommodation needs of Gypshes and | :57:59. | :58:02. | |
Travellers have often not bden well understood. If the requiremdnt to | :58:03. | :58:05. | |
specifically assess the accommodation needs is removed there | :58:06. | :58:09. | |
will be an even higher rate of homelessness and even less sites to | :58:10. | :58:13. | |
meet their needs will be delivered and even less land allocated in | :58:14. | :58:18. | |
local plans to meet their nded. As a result of the shortage of atthorised | :58:19. | :58:21. | |
sites for Gypsies and Travellers will have no alternative but to camp | :58:22. | :58:27. | |
in unauthorised manner which impacts on their community and other settled | :58:28. | :58:31. | |
communities around them. Without authorised sites they will have | :58:32. | :58:36. | |
difficulty accessing water, toilets, refuse collection, schools `nd | :58:37. | :58:42. | |
employment. Local authority spent millions of pounds eg on | :58:43. | :58:46. | |
unauthorised incumbents, evhction costs, clearer costs. This hs a | :58:47. | :58:51. | |
lose, lose situation. Where Gypsies and Travellers' needs are not met | :58:52. | :58:59. | |
and local authorities are ilpacted as a consequence. The community and | :59:00. | :59:03. | |
law partnership are concerndd about the Gypsy and Traveller | :59:04. | :59:07. | |
accommodation needs being btried in the general housing need. They | :59:08. | :59:10. | |
highlight how this communitx are traditionally hard to reach groups | :59:11. | :59:13. | |
and as such require focused guidance from local authorities to assess | :59:14. | :59:17. | |
their needs. Gypsies and Tr`vellers already experienced some of the | :59:18. | :59:21. | |
poorest social outcomes of `ny group in our society and accommod`tion is | :59:22. | :59:24. | |
a key determinant of the wider inequalities. We have also seen | :59:25. | :59:28. | |
written evidence from the showman's Guild of Great Britain, the main | :59:29. | :59:30. | |
representative body for travelling show people who shared extrdme | :59:31. | :59:35. | |
concern with these clauses `nd the impact on their work. I be grateful | :59:36. | :59:40. | |
of the Minister can outline the impact on travelling show pdople and | :59:41. | :59:42. | |
any reassurance he can give the Guild to show people these clauses | :59:43. | :59:46. | |
will not impact them. The policy in this area is different across the | :59:47. | :59:49. | |
nation is forced up the Welsh government takes a different | :59:50. | :59:52. | |
approach to the issue of sight provision on introducing a statutory | :59:53. | :59:55. | |
duty on local authorities to facilitate sight provision. Wide | :59:56. | :00:00. | |
does the Minister think Gypsies and Travellers should face the sort of | :00:01. | :00:04. | |
postcode lottery? We believd the amendment is necessary to continue | :00:05. | :00:07. | |
support for Traveller and Gxpsy communities who are one of the most | :00:08. | :00:12. | |
excluded groups in Britain `nd paralegal concerns. The public | :00:13. | :00:19. | |
sector equality duty recognhses them as an ethnic minority and the UK has | :00:20. | :00:23. | |
another addition to facilit`te the traditional way of life for Gypsies | :00:24. | :00:27. | |
and Travellers. I be grateftl of the Minister could confirm whether the | :00:28. | :00:29. | |
removal of this clause would go against that. Are amendment would | :00:30. | :00:36. | |
ensure the retention of sections 225 and 226 of the Housing Act 2004 | :00:37. | :00:40. | |
which would ensure their hotsing needs are assessed by local | :00:41. | :00:43. | |
authorities, to make sure that safe sites can be continued to bd than to | :00:44. | :00:47. | |
fight and avoid the lose-lose situation letter in the bill were | :00:48. | :00:51. | |
under a presented groups face their housing needs being swallowdd up by | :00:52. | :00:54. | |
the general housing need. As the clause stands it would lead to many | :00:55. | :00:59. | |
unintended consequences, shortage of order I sites for juices and | :01:00. | :01:03. | |
Travellers, rise in unauthorised sites, worse safety, greater | :01:04. | :01:06. | |
pressure on local authoritids and to pressure on local communitids - | :01:07. | :01:11. | |
Gypsies and Travellers. I hope the government will consider thhs | :01:12. | :01:15. | |
amendment. Moving onto amendment 99 and amendment to clause 92, this | :01:16. | :01:20. | |
would ensure those with an dntry on the database of rogue landlords | :01:21. | :01:25. | |
would not be granted a licence to run an HMO. Whilst those subject to | :01:26. | :01:29. | |
a banning order would not bd able to receive an HMO licence, as they | :01:30. | :01:32. | |
would be in breach of the b`nning order, there are many others on the | :01:33. | :01:35. | |
road landlords and letting `gents database who could still apply and | :01:36. | :01:40. | |
receive an HMO licence -- rogue landlords. As the House will be | :01:41. | :01:42. | |
aware of local housing the Prydie may include other persons on the | :01:43. | :01:46. | |
database rather than applying for a banning order in a case where a | :01:47. | :01:50. | |
person's offences are slightly less serious and the local authority | :01:51. | :01:53. | |
considers monitoring the person is more appropriate than seeking a | :01:54. | :01:56. | |
banning order. This amendment seeks assurance those people would not be | :01:57. | :02:00. | |
considered for an HMO licence. It would have the added bonus of | :02:01. | :02:04. | |
ensuring the local housing `uthority checks with the rogue landlords and | :02:05. | :02:08. | |
lettings agents had to base to insure the applicant is allowed and | :02:09. | :02:11. | |
nobody subject to a banning order would slip through. And if hn the | :02:12. | :02:15. | |
future the database of rogud landlords and letting agents were to | :02:16. | :02:19. | |
be expanded upon it would provide further protection for tenants | :02:20. | :02:23. | |
against rogue landlords. We are as has been mentioned in earlidr | :02:24. | :02:26. | |
debates at committee stage, supportive of the message to tackle | :02:27. | :02:30. | |
rogue landlords to ensure the security and safety for ten`nts in | :02:31. | :02:33. | |
the sector and penalise crilinal landlords. However, we would like to | :02:34. | :02:38. | |
see added this further meastre to ensure that rogue landlords are not | :02:39. | :02:42. | |
able in any circumstance to be granted an HMO licence. This | :02:43. | :02:46. | |
amendment would help to drive up standards across the sector and | :02:47. | :02:51. | |
protect tenants in HMOs frol rogue landlords. Amendment | :02:52. | :02:55. | |
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is an amendment to clause 93 which | :02:56. | :02:59. | |
introduces schedule four, which amends the Housing Act of 2004 - | :03:00. | :03:08. | |
Amendment 67. Prosecution is an alternative to certain offences Are | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
amendment would mean that fhnancial penalties could be sought in | :03:13. | :03:15. | |
addition to prosecution rather than as an alternative. Why we stpport | :03:16. | :03:18. | |
measures in the Bill that t`ckle rogue landlords the bill cotld go | :03:19. | :03:21. | |
further to penalise criminal landlords to make it harder for them | :03:22. | :03:24. | |
to get away with housing related offences, to deter them frol | :03:25. | :03:29. | |
committing the crime and deter them from returning to the sector as well | :03:30. | :03:32. | |
as riding adequate punishment for their offence. At present, the bill | :03:33. | :03:35. | |
would allow for a financial penalty to be sought instead of a criminal | :03:36. | :03:42. | |
prosecution in cases from f`ilure to comply with improvement nothces | :03:43. | :03:46. | |
letting an unlicensed HMO alongst other offences. Clearly there will | :03:47. | :03:50. | |
be cases when a financial pdnalty would be more appropriate, `s well | :03:51. | :03:54. | |
as there may be cases where a prosecution route would be lore | :03:55. | :04:00. | |
appropriate. However, there may be further situations where both routes | :04:01. | :04:02. | |
would be appropriate and thhs amendment would seek to allow this | :04:03. | :04:07. | |
to happen. This would help hn situations where the impact of the | :04:08. | :04:10. | |
offence is unclear. A local authority Madine at financi`l | :04:11. | :04:16. | |
penalty appropriate, -- may deem. But if the impact of the orhginal | :04:17. | :04:20. | |
offence escalates they may `lso wish to add an additional prosecttion | :04:21. | :04:24. | |
route. Making provision for both routes will allow greater | :04:25. | :04:27. | |
flexibility and local authorities could choose to find, prosecute but | :04:28. | :04:33. | |
they could also choose both measures and this amendment would increase | :04:34. | :04:35. | |
the options available to local authorities to make sure thd bill | :04:36. | :04:38. | |
goes further to penalise crhminal landlords, to defer them from | :04:39. | :04:43. | |
committing crimes and deter them from returning to the sector as well | :04:44. | :04:46. | |
as providing adequate punishment for the offence. In doing this we hope | :04:47. | :04:50. | |
we could further ensure the security and safety of tenants in thd sector | :04:51. | :04:54. | |
and help drive up standards. Should the government is not accept new | :04:55. | :04:58. | |
clause 52 we will seek to dhvide the House on that particular amdndment | :04:59. | :05:05. | |
and should amendment is 79, 76 and 77 in the name of the honourable | :05:06. | :05:08. | |
member from Bromley and Chislehurst amongst others seek to test the | :05:09. | :05:13. | |
House will on those amendments on the CPO provisions which we believe | :05:14. | :05:17. | |
water down the provisions of the act this side of the House would oppose | :05:18. | :05:22. | |
those in a vote. Thank you. I rise to speak in favour of new | :05:23. | :05:30. | |
clause 42. It is quite contradictory situation that in a very high value | :05:31. | :05:33. | |
area like St Albans that often people will look to live in mobile | :05:34. | :05:39. | |
home parks because that is the most affordable route to securing their | :05:40. | :05:44. | |
own home. Whilst I have a l`rge number of mobile home sites within | :05:45. | :05:47. | |
my constituency as well as some of the highest house prices and least | :05:48. | :05:53. | |
affordability in the countrx, I was pleased that the last Coalition | :05:54. | :05:55. | |
Government sought to tackle some of the abuses of the rogue sitd owners | :05:56. | :06:01. | |
in the last Parliament. Howdver I do think this problem of behng able | :06:02. | :06:07. | |
to sell your own mobile homd freely without being shackled with enormous | :06:08. | :06:11. | |
costs is actually something that does need tackling. It is worth | :06:12. | :06:15. | |
probing with a new clause 42, and I'd be interested to hear the | :06:16. | :06:20. | |
Minister's views on the matter. I have a particular mobile hole park | :06:21. | :06:23. | |
in my constituency, Newlands Park and residents have told me that when | :06:24. | :06:28. | |
bands become available, the park homes become available, it hs often | :06:29. | :06:31. | |
so difficult to sell that p`rticular Park home, Madame Deputy Spdaker, | :06:32. | :06:36. | |
that what happens in the end is the Park home is bought up by the site | :06:37. | :06:43. | |
owner. And gradually more of the park homes are becoming in ownership | :06:44. | :06:47. | |
of the site owner and then the site owner rents them out at a hhgh | :06:48. | :06:52. | |
rental rate. This is somethhng that is happening because on manx sites | :06:53. | :06:56. | |
throughout the United Kingdom, not only is the cost of selling one s | :06:57. | :07:00. | |
mobile home hugely disproportionate to the value of the actual van on | :07:01. | :07:07. | |
the site but there are restrictions on those selling the mobile homes. | :07:08. | :07:11. | |
For example in Newlands Park there is an insistence on vetting the | :07:12. | :07:13. | |
potential new buyer of the lobile home, done by the site owner. There | :07:14. | :07:20. | |
is also restrictions on the how when and wording associated with | :07:21. | :07:23. | |
displaying advertise meant for selling the mobile home. Thhs can | :07:24. | :07:28. | |
mean that in the sites that are poorly run, or run by owner is | :07:29. | :07:34. | |
landlords that what can happen is that those mobile home, or park home | :07:35. | :07:38. | |
sites can actually start becoming controlled by the site owner. I | :07:39. | :07:44. | |
think one of the tools that can be done within this bill, and hf not in | :07:45. | :07:49. | |
this bill, maybe another look at the mobile homes Park act, we could be | :07:50. | :07:53. | |
looking to restrict the control that unscrupulous owners may choose to | :07:54. | :07:59. | |
try and exercise over those who wish to divest themselves of park home | :08:00. | :08:05. | |
sites. Park home sites are often owned by elderly people, divorced | :08:06. | :08:09. | |
people, single people, people on low incomes, people are not alw`ys very | :08:10. | :08:13. | |
savvy or able to bend themsdlves legally should they find thdmselves | :08:14. | :08:16. | |
being put in a difficult position. -- defend themselves. By putting it | :08:17. | :08:23. | |
into war as this clause six to-do the government would support those | :08:24. | :08:25. | |
owners and it would perhaps be a shot across the bowels of those site | :08:26. | :08:32. | |
owners, who seek to make life so difficult and so expensive to those | :08:33. | :08:39. | |
Park home owners, that in the end they give up and sell it to the site | :08:40. | :08:43. | |
owner and he builds up a lucrative profit -- shot across the bows. | :08:44. | :08:51. | |
Builds up a lucrative private empire and removes those homes frol other | :08:52. | :08:54. | |
people on low incomes being able to buy them in an affordable m`nner. I | :08:55. | :08:58. | |
think adrift kind this parthcular new clause is very welcome, and I | :08:59. | :09:03. | |
hope the Minister can give ts an indication on whether greatdr | :09:04. | :09:05. | |
protections will be given to people who live on Park home sites, because | :09:06. | :09:09. | |
if not now I'd like to know that it was coming down the route at some | :09:10. | :09:12. | |
point in the future, becausd Park home owners have come some of the | :09:13. | :09:18. | |
most disadvantaged grey are`s in housing and it's time they had a | :09:19. | :09:21. | |
much stronger champion. This government in coalition did it last | :09:22. | :09:25. | |
time and I hope this governlent this time will take it a step further and | :09:26. | :09:28. | |
strengthen up the protections for Park homeowners. | :09:29. | :09:35. | |
I am grateful to be called. The honourable lady, apart from her | :09:36. | :09:42. | |
other duties in this place, she also leads the group on Bangladesh. I'm | :09:43. | :09:48. | |
pleased to be following her in this debate. I want to speak on new | :09:49. | :09:55. | |
clauses three and four, which stand in my name, and express my | :09:56. | :10:00. | |
appreciation to Mr Glenn McKee in the Public Bill Office for his | :10:01. | :10:05. | |
expert assistance crafting new clauses three and four. And to thank | :10:06. | :10:13. | |
the Leasehold Partnership for the encouragement in making surd we have | :10:14. | :10:17. | |
new clause three on leasehold reform. My constituency is the | :10:18. | :10:25. | |
second highest number of le`sehold properties in the country. So this | :10:26. | :10:33. | |
is a matter which has great constituents the significance, and | :10:34. | :10:37. | |
Klaus four on tenants' writds, I have 50% of the properties hn my | :10:38. | :10:42. | |
constituency being socially rented, and so this is also a big issue | :10:43. | :10:47. | |
locally. On leasehold reforl, I m pleased that the Government has | :10:48. | :10:50. | |
recognised the scale of the issue. Led by the honourable gentldman who | :10:51. | :10:56. | |
has been campaigning on leasehold reform for many, many years, and | :10:57. | :10:59. | |
whom I'm pleased to be supporting on this issue, and who is backdd up by | :11:00. | :11:07. | |
the leasehold partnership organised by Martin Berry. He and I h`ve | :11:08. | :11:16. | |
arranged a forum here at Westminster for parties interested in ldasehold | :11:17. | :11:19. | |
reform and they have been attended by professional bodies, but | :11:20. | :11:23. | |
individuals, by leaseholders and others. They have been raishng these | :11:24. | :11:30. | |
matters with civil servants, with Government, and I'm grateful the | :11:31. | :11:33. | |
minister has afforded us a number of opportunities to come in and meet | :11:34. | :11:39. | |
civil servants to try to explore these issues and identify a way | :11:40. | :11:45. | |
forward. One of the major stccesses we have had in the past 12 lonths is | :11:46. | :11:51. | |
the Government initially estimated there were twin two and 2.34 million | :11:52. | :11:58. | |
leaseholders in this countrx. - between. The fact that therd is now | :11:59. | :12:04. | |
4.5 million means this is a bigger problem than the Government thought. | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
This does not take into account the nearly 2 million leaseholders of | :12:10. | :12:13. | |
former council properties, who exercised right to buy or h`ve | :12:14. | :12:16. | |
subsequently bought those properties, so we are talking about | :12:17. | :12:20. | |
nearly 6 million households in this country, a significant numbdr of our | :12:21. | :12:27. | |
citizens affected by leaseholders and their relation. My constituents | :12:28. | :12:33. | |
are affected by this. Among them are very wealthy professionals, in very | :12:34. | :12:39. | |
smart properties around Can`ry Wharf, and some of them in very | :12:40. | :12:43. | |
expensive properties, but also a number of pensioners in the east end | :12:44. | :12:47. | |
who exercised right to buy `nd who own former council propertids, who | :12:48. | :12:51. | |
clearly have not got the access to the resources and the assets and the | :12:52. | :12:58. | |
finances available to some of my constituents. It also covers | :12:59. | :13:05. | |
retirement homes and leaseholders are represented in every strata of | :13:06. | :13:10. | |
society. From the bruised rhght the way through to the richest. So | :13:11. | :13:17. | |
nobody is excluded from the vulnerability of living in leasehold | :13:18. | :13:21. | |
properties. -- from the poorest to the richest. A lack of protdction | :13:22. | :13:28. | |
and the informal dispute resolution procedure which is abused bx | :13:29. | :13:33. | |
unscrupulous freeholders employing high powered barristers puts | :13:34. | :13:38. | |
ordinary leaseholders, whether professionals, rich or poor, I see | :13:39. | :13:43. | |
honourable members on the other side smiling because they are in this | :13:44. | :13:51. | |
category, either as vulnerable leaseholders or as freeholddrs, I | :13:52. | :13:55. | |
went say unscrupulous. I know but the honourable gentleman opposite, | :13:56. | :14:01. | |
as if the loan West Ham supporter, we would never fall into thd | :14:02. | :14:07. | |
category of unscrupulous. There are major weaknesses in leasehold | :14:08. | :14:15. | |
regulation. Including issues such as the amount of service chargds, the | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
amount of insurance which is charged, the ground rents which are | :14:21. | :14:24. | |
charged, and forfeiture. All issues for leaseholders, where thex are | :14:25. | :14:29. | |
vulnerable to unscrupulous freeholders. Sadly, there are too | :14:30. | :14:33. | |
many of those even though they are in the minority. Although I do think | :14:34. | :14:37. | |
it is important to recognisd that the sector has been attempthng to | :14:38. | :14:45. | |
improve its performance and to raise its game with the new voluntary | :14:46. | :14:49. | |
codes, and that has been significant progress made. But I do think that | :14:50. | :14:56. | |
leasehold reform is something which should be on the Government's radar, | :14:57. | :15:01. | |
certainly since leasehold h`s been increasingly used over many years. | :15:02. | :15:09. | |
We have had six major statutes, a number of SIs other Acts of | :15:10. | :15:18. | |
Parliament dealing with this issue, Conservative administrations, | :15:19. | :15:22. | |
notably in 1985, 1987 and 18 93 And then the Labour Housing Act of 992, | :15:23. | :15:30. | |
all trying to recognise this collectively as an area which needs | :15:31. | :15:34. | |
attention. We have singularly failed to protect leaseholders and I would | :15:35. | :15:39. | |
be very interested in hearing the minister's comments in response to | :15:40. | :15:46. | |
those points. New clause three and the proposal which is dated within | :15:47. | :15:55. | |
it. I am hoping that this whll galvanise the Government into asking | :15:56. | :16:03. | |
why nothing has happened. I do understand that key discusshons have | :16:04. | :16:08. | |
been taking place within Government in the movement of commonhold | :16:09. | :16:12. | |
legislation, which still falls under M O J. It would seem to makd sense | :16:13. | :16:22. | |
to place those responsibilities for housing within the bond dep`rtment. | :16:23. | :16:28. | |
At the end of the last administration, moving into the | :16:29. | :16:32. | |
General Election, all three main political parties supported moving | :16:33. | :16:37. | |
this issue to DCLG, but there has not been any movement. I wotld be | :16:38. | :16:40. | |
grateful to hear the ministdr's response. In terms of new clause | :16:41. | :16:49. | |
four, this is far less complex. I'm disappointed we have not sedn | :16:50. | :16:53. | |
movement on this because it is very much an issue of localism and | :16:54. | :16:57. | |
community empowerment. If I could refer back to leasehold leghslation | :16:58. | :17:01. | |
for a moment, one of the few protections for his hobbies that | :17:02. | :17:05. | |
does exist, although it is very difficult to implement -- for | :17:06. | :17:10. | |
leaseholders that does exist, is the right to sack management colpanies | :17:11. | :17:13. | |
responsible for the upkeep of residents' homes. There is the | :17:14. | :17:19. | |
provision for ballots to take place and a simple majority would allow | :17:20. | :17:23. | |
residents to look for new property management companies for managing | :17:24. | :17:29. | |
those properties. It happens very seldom. In my constituency, many | :17:30. | :17:34. | |
thousands of tenants voted over recent decades in ballots to move | :17:35. | :17:42. | |
responsibility for the homes from the castle to housing assochations. | :17:43. | :17:47. | |
This was one of the mechanisms we used to deal with the 2 million | :17:48. | :17:54. | |
homes that we inherited that were perceived as being below thd decency | :17:55. | :17:58. | |
threshold, and it led to upgrade of nearly 1.5 million of those | :17:59. | :18:03. | |
properties by 2010, including new kitchens, new bathrooms, dotble | :18:04. | :18:07. | |
glazing, new security and the rest of it. Most of these schemes were | :18:08. | :18:14. | |
successful. However, in a slall majority of transfers, they often | :18:15. | :18:17. | |
provided by the housing associations who sought the support of local | :18:18. | :18:22. | |
tenants and there is no provision for those tenants to express their | :18:23. | :18:27. | |
disappointment and to cite the red -- sack their registered landlord. | :18:28. | :18:32. | |
This is a basic element of consumer protection and any product which one | :18:33. | :18:38. | |
byes on the open market has protections to be able to sdek | :18:39. | :18:46. | |
compensation and redress, btt if it is your home and you are a council | :18:47. | :18:52. | |
tenant and you vote to move to a new registered social landlord, once you | :18:53. | :18:54. | |
are transferred, there is nowhere to go. If you are a leasehold, at least | :18:55. | :18:59. | |
you have the provision, even though as I say it is rarely used. So my | :19:00. | :19:06. | |
question in new clause four is trying to introduce the provision | :19:07. | :19:13. | |
which, I am suggesting a five yearly review, which would at least give | :19:14. | :19:16. | |
council tenants the opportunity to say to the housing associathon, or | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
the registered social landlord who is supposed to be delivering the | :19:22. | :19:25. | |
services which have been pahd for, that they are not doing a good | :19:26. | :19:28. | |
enough job and that if they do not up their game we will have ` lift | :19:29. | :19:34. | |
and sack you and me to a new housing association, or back to the council, | :19:35. | :19:39. | |
or set up a tenant management organisation, but basically give the | :19:40. | :19:43. | |
right to tenants to be able to hold their housing association to | :19:44. | :19:47. | |
account. The protection at the moment is complained through the | :19:48. | :19:54. | |
Housing ombudsman, to the rdgulator, and to get to that length is very | :19:55. | :20:01. | |
difficult. The regulator is very reluctant to move ownership and | :20:02. | :20:04. | |
response ability from one Housing association to another. So new | :20:05. | :20:10. | |
clause four actually suggests that tenants should have the right that | :20:11. | :20:17. | |
when the social landlord or housing association is not delivering, to | :20:18. | :20:22. | |
say, you are not doing a good enough job, we want somebody else to manage | :20:23. | :20:29. | |
the property. These clauses... One very convex, one quite strahght | :20:30. | :20:32. | |
forward. I'm disappointed that the Government has not seen it hn its | :20:33. | :20:36. | |
interest to bring forward these clauses themselves. I'm surd there | :20:37. | :20:40. | |
will be some interest within the other points when the Bill lakes | :20:41. | :20:43. | |
progress. But I would be very interested to hear the response to | :20:44. | :20:51. | |
these points. It is always ` particular pleasure to follow the | :20:52. | :20:59. | |
honourable gentleman as a fdllow officer for the All-party Group For | :21:00. | :21:07. | |
The Advancement Of West Ham United, which is doing well at the loment. | :21:08. | :21:13. | |
It is nice to recognise his very real commitment and expertise in the | :21:14. | :21:17. | |
area of housing in particul`r. I ought to refer to my interest in the | :21:18. | :21:21. | |
register of interests, one of which includes being a leasehold hn the | :21:22. | :21:28. | |
honourable gentleman's constituency. My experience of stock transfer has | :21:29. | :21:33. | |
been rather more positive btt he makes serious and important points | :21:34. | :21:35. | |
which I do think need to be addressed. For any London MP, the | :21:36. | :21:39. | |
issue of dealing with leaseholders is particularly important bdcause | :21:40. | :21:47. | |
that is such a critical part of the housing's -- the capital's housing | :21:48. | :21:55. | |
stock. One former MP, whom lany honourable members will rec`ll was | :21:56. | :22:00. | |
and active advocate of houshng reform, it is timely to pay tribute | :22:01. | :22:08. | |
to that work. I turned to the specific new clause amendments which | :22:09. | :22:17. | |
sit in my name relating to the line of compulsory purchase. My smile in | :22:18. | :22:23. | |
relation to the honourable gentleman was not so much about being a | :22:24. | :22:28. | |
leasehold or otherwise, it was his reference to high-powered | :22:29. | :22:32. | |
barristers. It never quite seemed like that in the County Hall, that | :22:33. | :22:37. | |
is all I can say. This is complex but an important area of law, one | :22:38. | :22:41. | |
where I know ministers are dngaged in the need for reform, bec`use the | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
simple truth is our compulsory purchase law has since about 18 40 | :22:47. | :22:57. | |
grown up incrementally. It hs not coherent, and it lags behind the | :22:58. | :23:02. | |
rest of the planning system in terms of updating. The Law Commission have | :23:03. | :23:06. | |
recognised that. They are continuing to do work on that. I hope ht is | :23:07. | :23:10. | |
something they will be able to revisit in the course of thhs | :23:11. | :23:13. | |
Parliament. We need to get ` grip and have a wholesale report on | :23:14. | :23:18. | |
compulsory purchase. That is not possible within this Bill, but I | :23:19. | :23:22. | |
welcome the improvements th`t the Bill does make around compulsory | :23:23. | :23:27. | |
purchase and compensation, which are good steps forward. I will suggest | :23:28. | :23:30. | |
some other steps forward as well. I was sorry that the honourable lady | :23:31. | :23:34. | |
on the opposition front bench thought that these were neg`tive | :23:35. | :23:35. | |
matters. I do not see them that way. I suspect I may not entirelx | :23:36. | :23:52. | |
succeed. But let me at least try. And really, the essence of what we | :23:53. | :23:57. | |
are seeking to do is that there are three aspects of this. It is about | :23:58. | :24:01. | |
fairness of treatment to landowners whose land is compulsorily `cquired. | :24:02. | :24:08. | |
We assume that that somehow relates to landed estates and the | :24:09. | :24:11. | |
aristocracy, but that is not the case. Many people whose land is | :24:12. | :24:18. | |
acquired compulsorily are slall businesses and smallholders, one way | :24:19. | :24:21. | |
or another. People who might struggle to finance the running of | :24:22. | :24:25. | |
their businesses. It can happen in an urban area. So, further treatment | :24:26. | :24:41. | |
is as important for the smallholder, as it is for the public authority. | :24:42. | :24:46. | |
Secondly, to make sure that there is promptness of payment. Whatdver the | :24:47. | :24:49. | |
circumstance, payment of compensation should be done swiftly | :24:50. | :24:55. | |
and at a fair rate of interdst. That is the third point which my set of | :24:56. | :25:03. | |
amendments relate to. Their has been an important step forward bx the | :25:04. | :25:07. | |
government on this, which I welcome. I know that the Country Landowners | :25:08. | :25:16. | |
Association, which represents both landowners and businesses in rural | :25:17. | :25:20. | |
areas, welcomes that. But I am pressing business is to go further. | :25:21. | :25:25. | |
Let me explain why I think these changes are needed. First of all | :25:26. | :25:33. | |
there is the duty of care. We often have duty of care written into | :25:34. | :25:36. | |
statute in relation to a nulber of issues. The acquisition of land can | :25:37. | :25:41. | |
be fundamental to the futurd of a business in an area. . It c`n be | :25:42. | :25:53. | |
fundamental to families, too. Nothing wrong with compulsory | :25:54. | :25:57. | |
acquisition, which is somethmes necessary. But at the end of the | :25:58. | :26:01. | |
day, the fair treatment of those people is important. What the new | :26:02. | :26:07. | |
clause seeks to do is to pl`ce a duty of care upon acquiring | :26:08. | :26:10. | |
authorities to make sure th`t those losing land or property are treated | :26:11. | :26:16. | |
fairly as well as introducing a clear set of guidelines by which the | :26:17. | :26:19. | |
authority have to add here `nd which could be judged if you like | :26:20. | :26:27. | |
objectively against. It may be that the minister will say that xou do | :26:28. | :26:30. | |
not need primary legislation for that. We can't talk about that in | :26:31. | :26:35. | |
due course. But I think the issue needs to be flagged up. There is a | :26:36. | :26:44. | |
concern amongst many practitioners. I am grateful for the support of | :26:45. | :26:48. | |
various people, including those in the Compulsory Purchase Association, | :26:49. | :26:57. | |
who have highlighted the fact that there is a concern about having a | :26:58. | :27:00. | |
transparent mechanism in order to determine what is a fair rate of | :27:01. | :27:05. | |
compensation. At the moment it is a bit a horse trading process. We need | :27:06. | :27:17. | |
a proper benchmark by which to judge whether or not the acquiring | :27:18. | :27:21. | |
authority is behaving reasonably. The state gives considerabld power | :27:22. | :27:27. | |
to acquiring authorities. I do not object to that. But the corollary is | :27:28. | :27:32. | |
that it should be exercised in a genuinely fair fashion. Most times | :27:33. | :27:37. | |
it is, but Azman occasions when it isn't. -- but there are occ`sions | :27:38. | :27:51. | |
when it isn't. I hope that discussions on this will be able to | :27:52. | :27:58. | |
take forward in a constructhve way. But I hope they will concedd that it | :27:59. | :28:04. | |
is an issue that we need to address. The second part of my remarks relate | :28:05. | :28:10. | |
to the amendments which are in my name, amendments 76, 77 and macro | :28:11. | :28:19. | |
79. I do not think it is right to characterise these as weakening the | :28:20. | :28:24. | |
power of compulsory purchasd at all. Compulsory purchase requires | :28:25. | :28:27. | |
fairness to both sides. What we are seeking to do is first of all to | :28:28. | :28:32. | |
make sure that there is prolpt payment, and secondly to make sure | :28:33. | :28:35. | |
that it comes at a fair ratd of interest for those people who are | :28:36. | :28:42. | |
going to be paid. Let me de`l with the question of advanced paxment, | :28:43. | :28:48. | |
amendment 79. Very often yot find that if land is compulsorilx | :28:49. | :28:53. | |
acquired, it may be a farmer, it may be a rural business, but thdy then | :28:54. | :28:59. | |
find it difficult to secure funding to take their business forw`rd. If | :29:00. | :29:03. | |
part of their holding is severed, part of the business is in dffect | :29:04. | :29:10. | |
taken away, it may interrupt their existing financial arrangemdnts with | :29:11. | :29:17. | |
their bank. They may have to go back to the bank if a mortgage, for | :29:18. | :29:20. | |
example, has been borrowed `gainst a certain number of acres. So it is | :29:21. | :29:27. | |
important that they have prompt compensation and a fair ratd of | :29:28. | :29:31. | |
compensation in order to give comfort to the bank. That is what we | :29:32. | :29:37. | |
are is seeking to address. @t a moment, even though it is possible | :29:38. | :29:44. | |
to sort out the acquisition and compensation sum, nonetheless there | :29:45. | :29:48. | |
are frequently quite long ddlays after the authority has takdn | :29:49. | :29:50. | |
possession of the land. And choosing the point. Once the acquiring | :29:51. | :29:55. | |
authority has taken possesshon of the landless and of course these are | :29:56. | :29:58. | |
no longer available for use as part of the business. But they m`y not | :29:59. | :30:06. | |
get the compensation for it any many months and in effect have to make | :30:07. | :30:09. | |
bridging arrangements with their banks. I give way. I have bden | :30:10. | :30:17. | |
involved in a case myself bdfore coming here to Parliament, where the | :30:18. | :30:23. | |
bank required immediate rep`yment of loans facility because of the | :30:24. | :30:29. | |
reduction of its security, `nd of course the business had to close | :30:30. | :30:33. | |
because it did not have accdss to funds immediately. His reasonable | :30:34. | :30:36. | |
amendment that payment should be made promptly, to enable thd | :30:37. | :30:40. | |
business to continue, I would have thought would be very welcole. I am | :30:41. | :30:45. | |
grateful. I know he has professional expertise in this matter. I would | :30:46. | :30:52. | |
say to ministers, of all thd amendments and new clauses hn my | :30:53. | :30:56. | |
name, I would urge them most strongly to pay attention to this, | :30:57. | :31:04. | |
because this is precisely the one thing which actually puts pdople out | :31:05. | :31:09. | |
of business, as the honourable gentleman says. I would urgd people | :31:10. | :31:17. | |
to look swiftly and urgentlx at this. Perhaps it does not rdquire | :31:18. | :31:21. | |
primary legislation far, it does need to be addressed. My honourable | :31:22. | :31:30. | |
friend is absolutely right. Established firms of folding because | :31:31. | :31:34. | |
of this. Unless they are able to go back, sometimes having to increase | :31:35. | :31:38. | |
their exposure, sometimes h`ving to put up the family home to ghve the | :31:39. | :31:42. | |
security, that cannot be just under those circumstances. I am | :31:43. | :31:45. | |
particularly grateful to my honourable friend for that | :31:46. | :31:50. | |
intervention. The end tulips what this amendment is all about. The | :31:51. | :31:54. | |
final point, to reinforce hhs intervention, is that failing to pay | :31:55. | :31:59. | |
compensation in this way actually runs contrary to virtually `ll other | :32:00. | :32:03. | |
commercial transactions. It is an outlier which puts people who are | :32:04. | :32:09. | |
compulsorily acquired in a disadvantage as position, vdry | :32:10. | :32:12. | |
possibly against public wadhs and makes it really difficult for any | :32:13. | :32:16. | |
landowner or business person to run their business efficiently `gainst | :32:17. | :32:21. | |
that background. That is thd purpose of that amendment. I hope it will be | :32:22. | :32:26. | |
looked upon favourably by the government. The route I am not | :32:27. | :32:31. | |
fussed about but it is the outcome of fairness which I think is the | :32:32. | :32:37. | |
most important. Amendment 77 is consequential upon that, Madame | :32:38. | :32:45. | |
Deputy Speaker. Can I now ttrn to amendment 79, the second part of it. | :32:46. | :32:49. | |
First of all it is important that we have prompt payment. The second part | :32:50. | :32:53. | |
is realistic levels of compdnsation. It can be assessed through the | :32:54. | :32:56. | |
current system for great is the question of interest on latd | :32:57. | :33:06. | |
payment. The current governlent has rightly emphasised the importance | :33:07. | :33:15. | |
for businesses of prompt,. ,- prompt payment. It is something whhch | :33:16. | :33:19. | |
weighs heavily upon small to medium-sized businesses, because | :33:20. | :33:25. | |
they are more exposed to thd need for external bank financing the | :33:26. | :33:30. | |
most. They are not likely to be able to drawdown on capital. We recognise | :33:31. | :33:35. | |
and I welcome the governments increase in the rate which hs paid | :33:36. | :33:43. | |
to 4%, as I recall it. That is an important and valuable step forward. | :33:44. | :33:46. | |
By urge them that it should go further. When compulsory purchase | :33:47. | :33:53. | |
goes through, very off on the land holders find it very diffictlt to | :33:54. | :33:58. | |
secure the funding to go forward, and in particular it is important to | :33:59. | :34:02. | |
have that realistic rate of interest paid. Even under the current changes | :34:03. | :34:11. | |
proposed, it will lag behind what is effectively the market-wide. So we | :34:12. | :34:17. | |
have this situation, the nature of compulsory purchase means that the | :34:18. | :34:19. | |
majority of compensation dud is meant to be paid before. Whdn it is | :34:20. | :34:27. | |
not, there ought to be some compensation for those who `re held | :34:28. | :34:31. | |
up by the late payment of that. By and large we are in a situation now | :34:32. | :34:35. | |
where the government has proposed introducing an interest ratd of 2% | :34:36. | :34:37. | |
above the base rate on late payments. That is a step forward. | :34:38. | :34:43. | |
However it is still well below the commercial breaks. And thesd | :34:44. | :34:49. | |
amendments would see an intdrest rate on compensation which was due | :34:50. | :34:53. | |
before entry but not paid on time at 8% above base that. That is in line | :34:54. | :35:02. | |
with the interest which is charged on late payments on commerchal | :35:03. | :35:06. | |
transactions. The truth is, it is no burden on the acquiring authority. | :35:07. | :35:10. | |
All they have to do is pay on time. If they pay on time this and they do | :35:11. | :35:13. | |
not attract the punitive rate of interest. It is actually a spur to | :35:14. | :35:17. | |
good behaviour by acquiring authorities. But 8% would bd closer | :35:18. | :35:24. | |
to the market rate than the 4% which is currently available. We suggest | :35:25. | :35:30. | |
that any compensation on a quantifiable amount should be at 8%. | :35:31. | :35:44. | |
What we are then saying is, in relation to those other paylents, | :35:45. | :35:47. | |
which are not always quantifiable immediately but become apparent | :35:48. | :35:51. | |
there, that should attract `n interest rate of 4% above b`se, | :35:52. | :35:55. | |
which is in line with commercial lending rates. So, we are shmply | :35:56. | :36:00. | |
saying to acquiring authorities behave like any other commercial | :36:01. | :36:05. | |
body would do. That is not seeking to undermine the compulsory purchase | :36:06. | :36:12. | |
regime at all. But it is making sure that it acts fairly. Those `cquiring | :36:13. | :36:23. | |
authorities who are efficient should have nothing to fear. Why should the | :36:24. | :36:29. | |
landowner be in a worse poshtion than they would be if, let's say, | :36:30. | :36:33. | |
the land had been acquired `s a result of a commercial negotiation | :36:34. | :36:41. | |
or, let's say, a judgment of the court in relation to the land. It | :36:42. | :36:46. | |
may sound technical but it hs important to a lot of rural | :36:47. | :36:54. | |
businesses. I think we only have one farm in Bromley in Chislehurst, but | :36:55. | :36:58. | |
it is an important issue for many businesses in rural areas. | :36:59. | :37:05. | |
It is a delight to follow mx colleague. He has expertise in | :37:06. | :37:13. | |
housing and planning. I would like to make some remarks in rel`tion to | :37:14. | :37:19. | |
conditions in the private rdnted sector and also in relation to. . To | :37:20. | :37:25. | |
respond in a way and to agrde, really, with my colleague... I'm not | :37:26. | :37:41. | |
an expert in housing and pl`nning but I do know that I have jtst | :37:42. | :37:46. | |
opened my 1000th constituency case since May the 8th and there was a | :37:47. | :37:53. | |
lot of work to be done. 60% of all people who have come to see me or | :37:54. | :37:58. | |
written to me or phoned me have talked to me about housing `nd | :37:59. | :38:01. | |
whereas I think perhaps 20 xears ago the member for Hornsey and Wood | :38:02. | :38:06. | |
Green would have been dealing mainly with local authorities or housing | :38:07. | :38:09. | |
associations, or home owners, so many more cases now do relate to the | :38:10. | :38:13. | |
private rented sector, and that is why it is a real pleasure that I | :38:14. | :38:16. | |
have been able to speak and get into the speaking order today. As we know | :38:17. | :38:22. | |
from a previous debate which my honourable friend the member for | :38:23. | :38:26. | |
Kensington North lead on in a Private Members' Bill, the | :38:27. | :38:29. | |
conditions of many of our homes in the private rented sector ldave a | :38:30. | :38:33. | |
lot to be desired. We know now that instead of the 10% or 15% of the | :38:34. | :38:38. | |
population in an average London borough, people living in the | :38:39. | :38:43. | |
private rented sector can now constitute up to 45% of reshdents. | :38:44. | :38:47. | |
That is why we need to be mtch more ambitious about the quality of homes | :38:48. | :38:53. | |
that house constituents. In particular, we know now that fewer | :38:54. | :38:59. | |
and fewer people are able to own their own homes and home ownership | :39:00. | :39:03. | |
is at an all-time low, and we know that the Government policy hs to try | :39:04. | :39:10. | |
to assist people. We know that, for example, in my constituency, only | :39:11. | :39:14. | |
one household, and there ard 80 000 electoral was in the constituency, | :39:15. | :39:17. | |
only one household had been helped by the Government incentive scheme | :39:18. | :39:23. | |
called help to buy, and that gives you an indication of how difficult | :39:24. | :39:27. | |
it is to get onto the housing ladder. Therefore, more people are | :39:28. | :39:30. | |
saving up in the hope that one day they may own a home. It is so | :39:31. | :39:35. | |
important we had high quality private rented homes. We know that | :39:36. | :39:39. | |
most landlords are actually very good. Most want to look aftdr their | :39:40. | :39:44. | |
tenants and want to be best practice. However, unfortun`tely, | :39:45. | :39:47. | |
due to the high demand for privately rented homes, and due to thd fact | :39:48. | :39:52. | |
that people just want to live near to where they work, sometimds the | :39:53. | :39:58. | |
standards have dropped and sometimes people are actually afraid to raise | :39:59. | :40:02. | |
poor quality homes with thehr landlord for fear of being dvicted. | :40:03. | :40:06. | |
I have even heard some storhes of tenants queueing up with baked goods | :40:07. | :40:12. | |
for landlords and saying, please can I be your tenants? With such a huge | :40:13. | :40:17. | |
demand for certain propertids, therefore the landlord does not | :40:18. | :40:20. | |
really... There is no huge hncentive for him or her to provide that home | :40:21. | :40:25. | |
because he may even get cakds and not have to fix the plumbing or | :40:26. | :40:28. | |
anything else, but we know that we want to be ambitious for our | :40:29. | :40:31. | |
communities and have that hhgh quality of homes. So very briefly, | :40:32. | :40:36. | |
if I could just emphasise the need for local authorities to have their | :40:37. | :40:43. | |
funding ring-fenced around this quality of the privately rented | :40:44. | :40:47. | |
sector, I think it is also hncumbent that it is about preventing | :40:48. | :40:50. | |
homelessness. We know it local authorities have a duty to prevent | :40:51. | :40:53. | |
homelessness, therefore thex should be having an eye to this but quite | :40:54. | :41:01. | |
rightly, there is a lack -- they do claim a lack of funding, thdrefore | :41:02. | :41:03. | |
we should ring-fenced funding in high quality homes, particularly | :41:04. | :41:09. | |
where we know up to 40% of families are living in the private rdnted | :41:10. | :41:13. | |
sector. My particular bugbe`r around this is where housing benefht is | :41:14. | :41:18. | |
either wholly paid or had p`id with rent because I do feel... It is not | :41:19. | :41:26. | |
fair that the state is subshdising landlords weather conditions are not | :41:27. | :41:29. | |
good and I think it is one thing for people to be paying out of their own | :41:30. | :41:35. | |
pocket, thinking, I maybe whll not try to demand better condithons but | :41:36. | :41:43. | |
as the state is subsidising landlords, we need to be more | :41:44. | :41:47. | |
demanding as to the quality of these homes. I wonder if she would join me | :41:48. | :41:53. | |
in hoping that where the tenant is also receiving housing benefit, the | :41:54. | :41:57. | |
landlord will offer a longer lease, because the assured short hold | :41:58. | :42:04. | |
tenancy, where up to 45% of people renting in London in the prhvate | :42:05. | :42:11. | |
sector, is not fit for purpose. I hope she would encourage landlords | :42:12. | :42:15. | |
to offer a family friendly tenancy with longer leases especially in | :42:16. | :42:23. | |
cases where the landlord is -- tenant is receiving housing benefit. | :42:24. | :42:28. | |
He makes a good point. Now that the private rented sector is thd new | :42:29. | :42:33. | |
normal, we need to move tow`rds three or four years. People do not | :42:34. | :42:37. | |
have to accept that long but the six months as a normal is not | :42:38. | :42:41. | |
acceptable. Particularly whdre we know that in places like, for | :42:42. | :42:46. | |
example, the report, you nedd an income of ?75,000 to rent a home for | :42:47. | :42:52. | |
your family, and Finsbury P`rk is not classy. We do need to bd doing | :42:53. | :43:00. | |
much more on that length of tenancy, and I'm sure we will get another | :43:01. | :43:04. | |
bite at the charity tried to put forward that kind of amendmdnt, | :43:05. | :43:09. | |
because I'm not sure that w`s accepted last time we did that, but | :43:10. | :43:13. | |
we would continue to campaign for that because you are quite right to | :43:14. | :43:17. | |
mention it. In the olden daxs we used to talk about the decent homes | :43:18. | :43:22. | |
standard. We talked about khtchens, bathrooms, heating, Securitx, | :43:23. | :43:25. | |
windows and so on. This shotld be the same sort of conditions we talk | :43:26. | :43:29. | |
about in the private rented sector because we all know that thd | :43:30. | :43:35. | |
long-term health impact of ` cold home, for example, and now, firmly | :43:36. | :43:39. | |
enough, in many places, sochal homes have to conditions due to the decent | :43:40. | :43:44. | |
homes standard which was brought in under the Labour Government up until | :43:45. | :43:49. | |
2010, where many tenants ard now living in what is quite accdptable | :43:50. | :43:53. | |
accommodation but private sdctors tenants paying more are livhng in | :43:54. | :43:57. | |
colder homes, and we know that in cold homes there is a greatdr chance | :43:58. | :44:01. | |
of respiratory illness, and increase into Becky Lace 's... In London we | :44:02. | :44:06. | |
should not be seeing increasing cases of Chewbacca laces whhch we | :44:07. | :44:15. | |
are seeing, which are aggravated by -- cases of TB. We know also that | :44:16. | :44:22. | |
the number of days which chhldren miss in school, be that in primary | :44:23. | :44:30. | |
school, secondary school, when they are doing their GCSEs, and dven into | :44:31. | :44:34. | |
the university years, they `re getting respiratory problems that | :44:35. | :44:40. | |
really had them back. They `re affecting our youngsters, ldt alone | :44:41. | :44:46. | |
affecting the health care of our older folk as well. So now H hope we | :44:47. | :44:51. | |
can also include, in what wd are asking authorities to look `t, | :44:52. | :44:55. | |
decent heating systems. I would be very surprised to find homes in the | :44:56. | :45:01. | |
social sector left in the borough of Haringey where there was not a | :45:02. | :45:06. | |
proper heating system, but H have been into homes in the priv`te | :45:07. | :45:10. | |
rented sector where they ard still using poor quality heating systems. | :45:11. | :45:15. | |
This brings me on to the pohnt that my colleague made about the | :45:16. | :45:18. | |
importance of electricity checks and it seems to me obvious that if we | :45:19. | :45:27. | |
have the Corgi standard, whhch every authority knows what that is, we | :45:28. | :45:32. | |
need a new name but a new standard for the electricals. So namds on a | :45:33. | :45:35. | |
postcard to the Deputy Speaker, and we can think of a new name today | :45:36. | :45:39. | |
because what we need is that same standard and that is why we do not | :45:40. | :45:45. | |
have as many accidents from gas because for the last 20 years we | :45:46. | :45:48. | |
have campaigned on that and got into the statutes, got it into the rules | :45:49. | :45:54. | |
and now where we do the samd gas checks, just do electricity as well. | :45:55. | :45:58. | |
It is so basic but we need to make these things part of what wd do | :45:59. | :46:03. | |
Very briefly, on the leaseholder issue, which my colleague and my | :46:04. | :46:09. | |
honourable friend the member for Poplar and Limehouse mentioned, 4.5 | :46:10. | :46:11. | |
million people living in le`se properties. Once again, likd the | :46:12. | :46:15. | |
private rented sector, this is the new normal. A third of all residents | :46:16. | :46:21. | |
living in social homes in some of London boroughs are leaseholders, | :46:22. | :46:25. | |
therefore we do need to push towards looking once at some form of | :46:26. | :46:30. | |
regulations around service charges, ground charges and also controlling | :46:31. | :46:38. | |
what the freeholders actually do and the way that they interact with | :46:39. | :46:41. | |
leaseholders. And a number of leaseholders cover all sorts of | :46:42. | :46:45. | |
specific questions by the freeholder really is not making a good | :46:46. | :46:49. | |
landlord, and I think we do need to look towards the leaseholder, and we | :46:50. | :46:52. | |
do need to have some kind of cap on what can be charged where the | :46:53. | :46:58. | |
freeholder is a private enthty and where leaseholders really are at | :46:59. | :47:02. | |
their mercy in terms of rep`irs which are done, unreasonablx high | :47:03. | :47:07. | |
bills, and just general lack of rights, because just having one | :47:08. | :47:11. | |
caseworker for a constituency MP where there are thousands of unhappy | :47:12. | :47:14. | |
leaseholders is just not a good situation to be in. And everyone is | :47:15. | :47:21. | |
laughing because they know what the situation is like for leaseholders. | :47:22. | :47:26. | |
We also know that there are a number of other things which we nedd to | :47:27. | :47:31. | |
move on and I wonder whether we shouldn't have further debate or | :47:32. | :47:34. | |
further time to look at these things because some of these are vdry | :47:35. | :47:38. | |
specific, but we are getting to a point now where both the prhvate | :47:39. | :47:41. | |
rented sector and the leaseholders, we are not talking about sm`ll | :47:42. | :47:44. | |
groups of people any more, we are talking about more and more people | :47:45. | :47:48. | |
because they are not able to afford to buy into the property market and | :47:49. | :47:52. | |
get themselves onto the housing ladder despite all of the | :47:53. | :47:56. | |
announcements, the hard hats and the wonderful fluorescent jackets that | :47:57. | :47:59. | |
politicians wear when they lake announcements about housing. We know | :48:00. | :48:04. | |
that there is a desperate issue around supply. It will not be fixed | :48:05. | :48:08. | |
overnight, and therefore wh`t we can do is improve the conditions of | :48:09. | :48:12. | |
leaseholders. First of all lake sure that the private rented sector is | :48:13. | :48:15. | |
right up there in our minds and in our concerns. You very much. -- | :48:16. | :48:28. | |
thank you very much. Would like to thank my honourable friend for her | :48:29. | :48:33. | |
support and I completely agree with the comments she made earlidr. The | :48:34. | :48:37. | |
minister will be pleased to know it is not my intention to put this | :48:38. | :48:44. | |
amendment... But I would sedk assurance from the minister that the | :48:45. | :48:50. | |
issue will be properly addrdssed as has been mentioned privacy by the | :48:51. | :48:53. | |
Government, with the possible change to the law that the Governmdnt will | :48:54. | :48:59. | |
accept. The Bill that the house has been discussing is about hotsing and | :49:00. | :49:03. | |
clearly there has been disctssions about the type of ownership and | :49:04. | :49:07. | |
freehold, leasehold, discussions about tenancies, the privatd sector, | :49:08. | :49:11. | |
the social housing sector. @nd also types of housing, detached houses, | :49:12. | :49:18. | |
terraced houses, flats. We should not forget the mobile home. A | :49:19. | :49:22. | |
surprise number of people actually owned such accommodation. There are | :49:23. | :49:28. | |
many constituencies up and down the country where people own mobile park | :49:29. | :49:33. | |
homes, including in my constituency. At present, under the law as we have | :49:34. | :49:38. | |
it, the site owner can charge commission of up to about 10% on the | :49:39. | :49:44. | |
sale price of such propertids. I think many people, politici`ns and | :49:45. | :49:49. | |
especially mobile park home owners consider this to be grossly unfair | :49:50. | :49:55. | |
and indeed outdated. I do acknowledge that the commission was | :49:56. | :49:59. | |
reduced from 15% to 10%, so there is an acceptance... There is an issue | :50:00. | :50:05. | |
here, but that was back in 0983 We are in a very different world now. | :50:06. | :50:14. | |
It certainly needs reviewing. There charges... They can rack up charges | :50:15. | :50:22. | |
all over the place, it is jtst another opportunity to milk poorer | :50:23. | :50:25. | |
members of the community. An interesting point -- An intdresting | :50:26. | :50:31. | |
point and although I have concentrated on one aspect of mobile | :50:32. | :50:35. | |
homes, I think the review should be across the board. My amendmdnt today | :50:36. | :50:42. | |
is to reduce the commission rate from maximum 10% down to 5%. I do | :50:43. | :50:48. | |
accept that there are counterarguments to this. Shte | :50:49. | :50:53. | |
owners for example would suggest that when they carry out thdir | :50:54. | :50:57. | |
investment calculation is an business model, it is part of that | :50:58. | :51:01. | |
and it can make their busindsses on Bible. They also suggest th`t as a | :51:02. | :51:05. | |
result of taking away this commission, it could see an increase | :51:06. | :51:09. | |
in the cost of the pitch feds or service charge. I'm also aw`re that | :51:10. | :51:13. | |
the Local Government Select Committee in the last Parli`ment | :51:14. | :51:17. | |
looked at this issue and decided that the commission should remain at | :51:18. | :51:27. | |
10%. However, is it right that the site owner should have an increase | :51:28. | :51:30. | |
in value but they haven't actually done anything? There are a number of | :51:31. | :51:35. | |
solutions. We could gradually reduce the percentage for site owndrs to | :51:36. | :51:42. | |
adjust to this in a period over five years. The commission chargd could | :51:43. | :51:47. | |
be restricted to only the dhfference between the original purchase price | :51:48. | :51:52. | |
and the subsequent sale price. Or indeed, following my commitlent a | :51:53. | :52:00. | |
straight reduction from 10% to %. I accept that... But this would | :52:01. | :52:06. | |
reflect the true cost of running a site. Therefore, my amendment is | :52:07. | :52:13. | |
simply to achieve three things. To highlight this issue to the house, | :52:14. | :52:18. | |
to remind ministers that thdre are different points of home ownership | :52:19. | :52:22. | |
and this is one of them, but most importantly of all, what I seek | :52:23. | :52:26. | |
today is a reassurance that the minister will confirm that the | :52:27. | :52:30. | |
Government will properly, comprehensively reviewed mobile park | :52:31. | :52:31. | |
homes in 2070. -- 2017. Can I pick up the words of ly | :52:32. | :52:49. | |
honourable friend from Bromley, and can I tie them to the excellent | :52:50. | :52:53. | |
speech from the member for Poplar and Limehouse? His new clause talks | :52:54. | :53:00. | |
about commonhold. That bill, over 13 years ago, did not work. And I ask | :53:01. | :53:05. | |
the Government to make sure that by the time this bill gets considered | :53:06. | :53:09. | |
in the House of Lords, they will try to put in the simple changes which | :53:10. | :53:13. | |
will make commonhold accesshble even before we get onto the point made, | :53:14. | :53:18. | |
which is to transfer all long leasehold is to commonhold. There is | :53:19. | :53:26. | |
a scandal... Briefly. I am grateful. Would he agree that had comlonhold | :53:27. | :53:33. | |
been part of the conditions for developers, so that all new,build | :53:34. | :53:39. | |
had to be sold first is comlonhold, that in 2002, that would have | :53:40. | :53:43. | |
effected the step change whhch many of us wanted to see at that time? | :53:44. | :53:53. | |
Yes. Each member in this Hotse on average has 9000 residential | :53:54. | :53:56. | |
properties, leasehold properties, in their constituency. In London, over | :53:57. | :54:02. | |
half the homes in the governments drive for more property will be | :54:03. | :54:05. | |
leasehold. They should be commonhold. If people want to know | :54:06. | :54:10. | |
what the scandals are, look back at the speech I made in the Quden's | :54:11. | :54:14. | |
Speech in June 2014 when I listed the kind of things which went on, | :54:15. | :54:19. | |
with the scandals which werd going on. And I make this warning to those | :54:20. | :54:26. | |
who are accumulating bunches of freeholds, thinking they ard going | :54:27. | :54:29. | |
to get an extraordinary rettrn from other charges other than silple | :54:30. | :54:33. | |
ground rent - don't expect that to be left alone by Parliament or by | :54:34. | :54:37. | |
the courts. I think why the time this bill gets into the House of | :54:38. | :54:41. | |
Lords but the proposals on dvent fees can be put into legisl`tion, | :54:42. | :54:45. | |
rather than having to wait two or three years for another bill to come | :54:46. | :54:50. | |
by. And I make this point - any kind of unfair clause should be declared | :54:51. | :54:54. | |
in effective by the propertx chambers, by the High Court, by the | :54:55. | :54:57. | |
Court of Appeal and by the Supreme Court. Because for too long, bad | :54:58. | :55:04. | |
freeholders, sometimes with incompetent managing agents, have | :55:05. | :55:07. | |
exploited leaseholders, whether previously from council homds or in | :55:08. | :55:10. | |
the private sector. And I s`y to McCarthy and Stone, who havd come | :55:11. | :55:15. | |
back and may go for a flotation this year, you try to explain whx it is | :55:16. | :55:18. | |
that so many retirement properties when they come onto the second-hand | :55:19. | :55:22. | |
market are at a far lower v`lue than when first sold? I think solicitors | :55:23. | :55:26. | |
should want their clients what the problem is. If they can solve the | :55:27. | :55:34. | |
problems, McCarthy and Stond can have a better future, and so cannot | :55:35. | :55:40. | |
drum I just wanted to speak briefly to the proposed new clause three. I | :55:41. | :55:46. | |
have some concerns about thhs clause. It is an extremely hmportant | :55:47. | :55:53. | |
issue and one where I think the Government should look to act. Long | :55:54. | :55:57. | |
leases in the residential sdctor have been one of the most | :55:58. | :56:02. | |
established forms of tenure in our country for literally hundrdds of | :56:03. | :56:05. | |
years. I can remember when H was training as a property lawydr, | :56:06. | :56:11. | |
looking at leases by the Grosvenor estate, which were 999 years, I | :56:12. | :56:21. | |
think, their average lease. I remember thinking I would bd long | :56:22. | :56:24. | |
dead before anybody even considers this returning to the freeholder. | :56:25. | :56:29. | |
But I think it is important to note that although there are problems | :56:30. | :56:34. | |
with long leasehold and that form of tenure, a lot of them do tend to be | :56:35. | :56:39. | |
related. In my constituency I see leasehold as a way of protecting | :56:40. | :56:42. | |
areas to stop inappropriate development. I am thinking | :56:43. | :56:45. | |
especially of clauses in thd lease which prevent development of | :56:46. | :56:51. | |
gardens, for example, withott the landlord or the freeholder's | :56:52. | :56:55. | |
consent. I think it is an ilportant form of tenure and one I thhnk which | :56:56. | :56:59. | |
your clause would seek to abolish 2020. I think long leasehold does | :57:00. | :57:08. | |
have advantages, particularly in the area of estate management where I | :57:09. | :57:16. | |
have many experience. I havd helped to set up many estates which are | :57:17. | :57:20. | |
being run for the benefit of the tenant and which have some hmportant | :57:21. | :57:24. | |
cost sharing measures in terms of things like estate roads and | :57:25. | :57:28. | |
maintenance of the outside of the building, which I think it hs very, | :57:29. | :57:31. | |
very important that we presdrve in any changes that we look to make in | :57:32. | :57:36. | |
this important and historic form of tenure. That said, the spirht of the | :57:37. | :57:40. | |
amendment is actually talking I think about where those est`tes do | :57:41. | :57:45. | |
exist, with service charges and went to charges, what more can the | :57:46. | :57:49. | |
Government do to make sure that the interests of tenants are protected? | :57:50. | :57:53. | |
I think this is a very important area which I hope can be explored in | :57:54. | :57:59. | |
more detail in the years to come. In the secular, with leasehold | :58:00. | :58:04. | |
properties, off on the management company no longer exists, and this | :58:05. | :58:09. | |
is a big issue on housing estates. I can think of one in my constituency, | :58:10. | :58:15. | |
which was severely flooded on Boxing Day, where the road attaching to | :58:16. | :58:19. | |
that housing estate has now been passed to a freehold companx, who | :58:20. | :58:25. | |
will not, despite the tenants living there, and the people being more | :58:26. | :58:27. | |
than prepared to contribute to the maintenance of that road, btt it | :58:28. | :58:34. | |
cannot be maintained, and I think this is an area where the Government | :58:35. | :58:38. | |
should look to act, where tdnants want to take on management of the | :58:39. | :58:50. | |
estate. And also specific provisions where the landlord's interest might | :58:51. | :58:54. | |
have been taken away. It is a complicated area of law. Not one | :58:55. | :58:58. | |
which I think can be solved by his amendment, which I would not | :58:59. | :59:01. | |
support, but one which I thhnk is worthwhile the Government coming | :59:02. | :59:05. | |
forward with proposals on bdcause it is an important area. On thd issue | :59:06. | :59:09. | |
of commonhold, I remember working in a law firm when the commonhold | :59:10. | :59:13. | |
proposals came forward from the then Labour government and having lots of | :59:14. | :59:17. | |
seminars on it and being tatght by people about how this was going to | :59:18. | :59:21. | |
change property law. It nevdr really happened. Nobody ever reallx | :59:22. | :59:26. | |
embraced commonhold. My view is that this is not because we did not tie | :59:27. | :59:32. | |
it to any compunction on development, but that actually it | :59:33. | :59:39. | |
sought to solve problems whhch often did not really exist. I think a much | :59:40. | :59:43. | |
better route for dealing with the problems of long leasehold would be | :59:44. | :59:48. | |
to actually give the tenants real rights and powers against a | :59:49. | :59:51. | |
freeholder, rather than looking at creating an entire new tenure. I am | :59:52. | :00:04. | |
grateful. I recall, because I was sponsoring the drive for le`sehold | :00:05. | :00:10. | |
reform act that stage, and simply giving tenants rights against the | :00:11. | :00:15. | |
freeholder, in situations where there is a head leaseholder who is | :00:16. | :00:21. | |
putting through those viciots service charges, completely and | :00:22. | :00:26. | |
called for services, charging rates for administering legal letters out | :00:27. | :00:33. | |
to people, I do not really feel that that is a solution. But I do commend | :00:34. | :00:38. | |
my honourable and for putting forward this amendment. I think it | :00:39. | :00:41. | |
is absolutely vital that thd Government take this seriously. | :00:42. | :00:45. | |
There has always been a cross-party consensus here that something needs | :00:46. | :00:48. | |
to be done, and I think it hs high time that the government did. I | :00:49. | :00:54. | |
thank the honourable gentlelan for that intervention, although I would | :00:55. | :00:58. | |
like to disagree with him at length, but I think the time will not allow | :00:59. | :01:02. | |
it. But briefly, when we do deal with leaseholders and tenurd, it | :01:03. | :01:07. | |
does solve some problems whhch I do not think can be solved by | :01:08. | :01:11. | |
commonhold. Like the flying freehold, for example. But whatever | :01:12. | :01:18. | |
the eggs answer is, if we create a new form of tenure, and we dxpect | :01:19. | :01:22. | |
commonhold to be part of th`t, we need to make sure that mortgage | :01:23. | :01:26. | |
companies are happy with it. I have seen lots of properties with a | :01:27. | :01:29. | |
market value of zero becausd there is a problem with things like flying | :01:30. | :01:35. | |
freehold. Finally, some comlents towards the electoral safetx -- | :01:36. | :01:42. | |
electrical safety certificate. I think in terms of ensuring that | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
landlords do prioritise electrical safety, I think it is good for the | :01:48. | :01:50. | |
Government to seek ways in which to do that. I do not agree with the | :01:51. | :02:00. | |
provisions of the clause, particularly in relation to clause | :02:01. | :02:07. | |
two, which I believe would dnd up having a landlord having to provide | :02:08. | :02:11. | |
a certificate every 12 months. I think this is too owner was. I think | :02:12. | :02:16. | |
a longer period should be proposed. Also, while it is very important | :02:17. | :02:19. | |
that landlords take electrical safety very seriously, I thhnk we | :02:20. | :02:23. | |
should also be looking at gdtting owner occupiers to take electrical | :02:24. | :02:29. | |
safety more seriously. I relember the House I was brought up hn, we | :02:30. | :02:34. | |
have lived there for 35 years and when you put the light on to go into | :02:35. | :02:38. | |
the Seller, it would flip on and off. My parents were amazed when the | :02:39. | :02:42. | |
people who bought the House from them said the House needed rewiring. | :02:43. | :02:47. | |
So, anything which would encourage people to look at their own home | :02:48. | :02:53. | |
would be advisable. Although I do not think it is necessary to have | :02:54. | :02:57. | |
primary legislation. I know that often estate agents insist that | :02:58. | :03:02. | |
landlords provide an electrhcal safety certificate. I know that from | :03:03. | :03:08. | |
properties that I let. If you have a proper buy to let commercial | :03:09. | :03:11. | |
insurance policy, they will insist that a landlord has up-to-d`te | :03:12. | :03:16. | |
electrical safety certificates. And finally I would reiterate mx call | :03:17. | :03:23. | |
from the government to push forward with the excellent family friendly | :03:24. | :03:27. | |
tenancy, which is sat there waiting for government ministers to embrace | :03:28. | :03:28. | |
it. Due to the time that we havd, I will | :03:29. | :03:47. | |
move straight to amendments made by honourable colleagues. Firstly, I | :03:48. | :03:53. | |
turn to the amendments put by the member for Poplar and Limehouse I | :03:54. | :03:59. | |
recognise the honourable melbers comments and those of my honourable | :04:00. | :04:01. | |
friend for Worthing West on the benefits of commonhold tenure. | :04:02. | :04:06. | |
However there are important differences compared with ldasehold. | :04:07. | :04:11. | |
For example there is a diffdrent statutory framework of rights and | :04:12. | :04:16. | |
protections. I think my honourable friend for Rossendale and Star | :04:17. | :04:19. | |
eloquently explained his experience of some of the issues around this. | :04:20. | :04:27. | |
That is partly why commonhold was intended to be an alternative to | :04:28. | :04:31. | |
long leasehold ownership. Wd believe it should remain so, without forcing | :04:32. | :04:35. | |
commonhold on those who may not wish it. I hear what the honourable | :04:36. | :04:41. | |
gentleman has said. I know this is something which he has disctssed | :04:42. | :04:44. | |
with the Housing and Planning Minister. It is something the | :04:45. | :04:50. | |
minister will keep under review And he will continue that dialogue with | :04:51. | :04:54. | |
the honourable member and whth my honourable friend. Whilst I | :04:55. | :05:01. | |
understand the arguments put forward in new Clause IV, I do not believe | :05:02. | :05:05. | |
it to be necessary. It would conflict with the deregulatory | :05:06. | :05:09. | |
clauses which were read for a second time last week. People may refer | :05:10. | :05:21. | |
complaints to the Housing olbudsman, for example, who may raise specific | :05:22. | :05:28. | |
concerns with the regulator, who has the power to initiate a statutory | :05:29. | :05:33. | |
inquiry. This can lead to interventions or to forced lergers | :05:34. | :05:37. | |
or takeovers, where the boards are not fit for purpose. I will need to | :05:38. | :05:44. | |
make progress. I am glad to say that the regulator really needs to use | :05:45. | :05:48. | |
such powers. Turning to my honourable friend for Carlisle's new | :05:49. | :05:53. | |
clause 42 - I can understand why he has raised this issue regarding | :05:54. | :06:00. | |
mobile home owners and 10% commission on the sale of their | :06:01. | :06:05. | |
home. As members have raised, commission is one legitimatd income | :06:06. | :06:11. | |
stream for park home businesses If it was reduced or abolished, there | :06:12. | :06:14. | |
would need to be a compensatory increase in pitch fees to cover the | :06:15. | :06:19. | |
shortfall in income, a move which many park home residents I `m sure | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
would not support. Following its inquiry into the park home sector in | :06:25. | :06:33. | |
2012, the select committee recommended that the right of site | :06:34. | :06:37. | |
owners to receive up to 10% commission from the sale of a home | :06:38. | :06:40. | |
should remain in place. The coalition government agreed with the | :06:41. | :06:44. | |
finding of the select committee and the governments view remains | :06:45. | :06:47. | |
unchanged. That said, the mobile homes act 2013 introduced | :06:48. | :06:52. | |
substantial change to the sdctor. It is important that these new measures | :06:53. | :06:58. | |
are given time to have an ilpact. We will therefore review the | :06:59. | :07:01. | |
effectiveness in relation to this legislation in 2017. I can reassure | :07:02. | :07:06. | |
colleagues that a working grip is already in place in this respect and | :07:07. | :07:11. | |
we await their recommendation. I am sure right honourable friends will | :07:12. | :07:15. | |
await those recommendations with bated breath. I want to turn to the | :07:16. | :07:23. | |
amendments laid by the opposition front bench. New clause 52 would | :07:24. | :07:28. | |
result in a new regulatory cost to landlords which would push tp wents | :07:29. | :07:35. | |
for tenants. Of course we bdlieve all homes should be of a decent | :07:36. | :07:37. | |
standard and all tenants should have a safe place to live. But local | :07:38. | :07:42. | |
authorities already have strong and effective powers to deal with poor | :07:43. | :07:45. | |
quality and safe accommodathon. And we expect them to use them. The | :07:46. | :07:52. | |
honourable lady will know that we debated extensively new clatse 3 at | :07:53. | :07:58. | |
committee, when I confirm that the Government would carry out the | :07:59. | :08:00. | |
necessary research to understand what if any amendments were needed | :08:01. | :08:06. | |
in the private sector. On that basis, the amendment was withdrawn. | :08:07. | :08:12. | |
To update the honourable lady, officials are now undertaking | :08:13. | :08:17. | |
research and have spoken already to Shelter and Electrical First in | :08:18. | :08:23. | |
respect of that amendment. H do not want to cover any further ground on | :08:24. | :08:24. | |
that. I understand where the honotrable | :08:25. | :08:35. | |
lady is coming from with regard new clause 50 four. Local housing | :08:36. | :08:39. | |
authorities have the power to apply additional licensing schemes to | :08:40. | :08:44. | |
cover smaller HMOs. We issudd a paper recently seeking views on | :08:45. | :08:48. | |
whether licences should be dxtended to smaller homes. We hope to publish | :08:49. | :08:52. | |
a response in the spring and I do not want to pre-empt that bx | :08:53. | :08:58. | |
amending the Bill at this point Similarly, on 99, local authorities | :08:59. | :09:01. | |
are already required to havd access to a range of factors when deciding | :09:02. | :09:06. | |
whether to grant a licence, including whether the law h`s been | :09:07. | :09:12. | |
contravened related to houshng. This will include all offences ldading to | :09:13. | :09:17. | |
inclusion in the database. With regard to new clause 47, led by my | :09:18. | :09:23. | |
honourable friend for Bromldy and Chislehurst, I would like to thank | :09:24. | :09:27. | |
him for bringing these mattdrs to the attention of the House. I know | :09:28. | :09:33. | |
that he has raised these issues on a number of occasions and has had | :09:34. | :09:36. | |
discussion with my honourable friend the Housing and Planning Minister, | :09:37. | :09:42. | |
who I know is considering what he says extremely carefully. And my | :09:43. | :09:46. | |
honourable friend is due to meet, as I understand he is due to mdet with | :09:47. | :09:57. | |
my honourable friend from the Landowners' Association. And given | :09:58. | :10:03. | |
his will to listen to him, H hope that my honourable friend whll | :10:04. | :10:07. | |
consider... Yes, I will givd weight. I'm grateful for the response but of | :10:08. | :10:12. | |
course I will withdraw the amendments on that basis. Then we | :10:13. | :10:18. | |
can have a constructive, is it going forward. In that spirit, I `m | :10:19. | :10:22. | |
exclude me glad to hear, and I'm sure Mike honourable friend for | :10:23. | :10:25. | |
Great Yarmouth will continud to work with my honourable friend as he has | :10:26. | :10:33. | |
undertaken to do. Mr Speaker, in bringing this report today to a | :10:34. | :10:40. | |
close, I would like to say ht has been eight pleasure to support the | :10:41. | :10:42. | |
minister for planning and housing in helping the House scrutinisd the | :10:43. | :10:47. | |
bill and the plans we have lade to improve it. I trust the House will | :10:48. | :10:52. | |
look favourably on on the rdmaining amendments this afternoon and not | :10:53. | :11:01. | |
push the amendments to a division. The question is that Governlent new | :11:02. | :11:07. | |
clause 60 to be read a second time. As many as are of that opinhon, say | :11:08. | :11:10. | |
"aye". To the contrary, "no".. The ayes have it. The question hs that | :11:11. | :11:15. | |
Government new clause 62 be added to the bill. As many as are of that | :11:16. | :11:18. | |
opinion, say "aye". To the contrary, "no". I think the ayes have it. Mr | :11:19. | :11:24. | |
Blackman Woods to move new clause 52. Move formally. Thank yot. The | :11:25. | :11:33. | |
question is that new clause 50 to be read a second time. As many as are | :11:34. | :11:36. | |
of that opinion, say "aye". To the contrary, "no". No! Clear the lobby. | :11:37. | :14:15. | |
The question is that new cl`use 50 to be read a second time. As many as | :14:16. | :14:21. | |
are of that opinion, say "axe". To the contrary, "no". Tellers for the | :14:22. | :14:29. | |
ayes. Judith Cummings and Ste Haim and. Tellers for the noes, Sarah | :14:30. | :14:33. | |
Newton and Simon Kirby. Order, order. The Ayes to the right, | :14:34. | :25:59. | |
219, the Noes to the left, 312. The Ayes to the right, 219, the Noes to | :26:00. | :26:06. | |
the left, 312, so the Noes have it, the noes have it. Armlock. ,- | :26:07. | :26:15. | |
unlock. With the leave of the House I will put the questions on | :26:16. | :26:18. | |
government amendments 27-30 together. The minister to move the | :26:19. | :26:23. | |
said amendments formally. The question is that government | :26:24. | :26:31. | |
amendments 27-30 be made. As many as are of that opinion say aye, | :26:32. | :26:35. | |
contrary no, the Ayes have ht, the Ayes have it. Consideration | :26:36. | :26:44. | |
completed, I will now suspend the House for about five minutes in | :26:45. | :26:49. | |
order to make a decision about certification. The division bells | :26:50. | :26:52. | |
will be wrong to minutes before the House resumes. Following my | :26:53. | :26:59. | |
certification, the government will be tabling the appropriate consent | :27:00. | :27:04. | |
motions, copies of which will be available shortly in the vote office | :27:05. | :27:09. | |
and will be distributed by doorkeepers. Order. The House is now | :27:10. | :27:13. | |
suspended. During this, the details of the | :27:14. | :28:20. | |
bill, the Commons Speaker considers replying to this, and these are | :28:21. | :28:25. | |
decided on by just English `nd Welsh MPs. The reason why the House has to | :28:26. | :28:31. | |
be suspended is the Speaker is dealing the necessary certification | :28:32. | :28:36. | |
for the state of the bill and when the Commons returns it will be just | :28:37. | :28:39. | |
a leash and Welsh MPs who whll be voting. MPs from other parts in the | :28:40. | :28:45. | |
UK, Scotland and Northern Ireland, will not be able to vote but can | :28:46. | :28:49. | |
still take part in the debate. Do join me at 11 o'clock tonight for a | :28:50. | :28:51. | |
full report on what happened. Could front of a House that I've | :28:52. | :34:27. | |
completed the standing order and have made no change to the | :34:28. | :34:31. | |
provisional certificate issted yesterday evening. Copies of my | :34:32. | :34:36. | |
final certificate will be m`de available in the vote officd and on | :34:37. | :34:40. | |
the Parliamentary website. Understanding order number 80 3M, | :34:41. | :34:45. | |
consent motions are therefore required for the bill to proceed. | :34:46. | :34:51. | |
Copies of the motions are available in the vote office and on the | :34:52. | :34:55. | |
Parliamentary website and h`ve been made available to members in the | :34:56. | :35:02. | |
Chamber. Does the Minister hntend to move the consent motions? Yds. | :35:03. | :35:20. | |
LAUGHTER. Always happy to hdar the voice of the Minister but a nod will | :35:21. | :35:27. | |
suffice. The House must forthwith resolve itself into the leghslative | :35:28. | :35:33. | |
grand committee England and Wales and, thereafter, into the | :35:34. | :35:40. | |
legislative grand committee England. Order, order. | :35:41. | :35:57. | |
Order, order! There will now be a joint debate on the consent motion | :35:58. | :36:07. | |
for England and Wales and the consent motion for England. I will | :36:08. | :36:13. | |
remind Honorourable Members that, although all members may spdak in | :36:14. | :36:21. | |
the debate, if there are divisions, only members representing | :36:22. | :36:22. | |
constituencies in England and Wales may vote on the consent mothon for | :36:23. | :36:31. | |
England and Wales and only lembers representing constituencies in | :36:32. | :36:34. | |
England may vote on the consent motion for England. I call the | :36:35. | :36:40. | |
Minister to move the consent motion for England and Wales and I remind | :36:41. | :36:50. | |
the Minister that understanding order number 83(m), he must also | :36:51. | :36:55. | |
inform the committee of the terms of the consent motion for Engl`nd. | :36:56. | :37:08. | |
Thank you, Madam Chairman. H think it is clear the importance of what | :37:09. | :37:11. | |
we're doing today from the fact that you can see so many of My Honourable | :37:12. | :37:15. | |
Friend 's here for this opportunity to deliver on a manifesto pledge. | :37:16. | :37:19. | |
The members of the Labour P`rty do not see it to be so important to do | :37:20. | :37:24. | |
what is right for our country and constitution. I beg to move the | :37:25. | :37:28. | |
motion in the name of my Right Honourable Friend the member for | :37:29. | :37:32. | |
Tunbridge Wells, the Secret`ry of State for Communities and Local | :37:33. | :37:38. | |
Government. I am also inquired to inform the committee that I intend | :37:39. | :37:42. | |
to move a further consent motion raised to England at the end of this | :37:43. | :37:46. | |
debate. I will address both consent motions now. I would like to draw | :37:47. | :37:50. | |
the attention of the committee to my written in a studio statement of | :37:51. | :37:53. | |
seventh January. This inforled the House that I placed my department's | :37:54. | :38:04. | |
analysis on standing order number 83(m). I placed this in the library. | :38:05. | :38:06. | |
I will give way. Since so many of the clauses in this | :38:07. | :38:16. | |
bill have been designated as applying exclusively to England or | :38:17. | :38:20. | |
indeed England and Wales, could the secretary of state help the house | :38:21. | :38:23. | |
and those members who are excluded from the boat, if there is one on | :38:24. | :38:27. | |
this consent motion, that hd has evidence that not a single person | :38:28. | :38:32. | |
from Northern Ireland is a landlord in England and Wales and thdrefore | :38:33. | :38:35. | |
have no particular interest in this bill? I will come to that point | :38:36. | :38:41. | |
specifically in a few moments and I would of a slow point out where she | :38:42. | :38:46. | |
and other members could comd and speak at the second reading and the | :38:47. | :38:49. | |
report stage last week throtgh to the early hours and this afternoon | :38:50. | :38:55. | |
when we touched on that point. I would like to begin by setthng out | :38:56. | :39:01. | |
my thanks to Mr Speaker for his careful consideration and | :39:02. | :39:04. | |
certification of this bill. I also want to pay tribute to the work of | :39:05. | :39:09. | |
my honourable friend the deputy leader of the house and members of | :39:10. | :39:12. | |
the procedure committee for getting us to this historic inaugur`l | :39:13. | :39:15. | |
legislative brand committee. And I would also like to put my thanks on | :39:16. | :39:19. | |
record to the clerks of the house for their as ever excellent service | :39:20. | :39:25. | |
and advice to Mr Speaker and to my department. Many of us on these | :39:26. | :39:31. | |
benches will come some modest justice for England at last. We | :39:32. | :39:36. | |
welcome the fact that at a time when Scotland is being given so lany | :39:37. | :39:39. | |
powers of self government wd now have a small voice and a vote. I | :39:40. | :39:44. | |
encourage the minister to go further and make sure we have justice over | :39:45. | :39:49. | |
money and justice over lawm`king for England to have a happy union. My | :39:50. | :39:55. | |
honourable friend as ever tdmpt me to go a little bit beyond the | :39:56. | :39:59. | |
housing and planning Bill btt I do understand the point he makds. The | :40:00. | :40:03. | |
history of this house and the history we all now goes before just | :40:04. | :40:07. | |
means it's quite rare for us to see a true first in this house. I'm very | :40:08. | :40:12. | |
proud to be the First Minister to stand at this dispatch box, | :40:13. | :40:15. | |
addressing the very first legislative gland committees of | :40:16. | :40:18. | |
England and Wales and of England only. As my right honourabld friend | :40:19. | :40:23. | |
the leader of the house notdd when he opened the debate on standing | :40:24. | :40:28. | |
order number 83 L back in October, the process we now follow h`s | :40:29. | :40:31. | |
created fairer parliaments `nd fairer assemblies giving thd | :40:32. | :40:35. | |
English, as my right honour`ble friend just outlined, a strong voice | :40:36. | :40:40. | |
on English matters without dxcluding MPs from other parts of the United | :40:41. | :40:43. | |
Kingdom from participation hn this house. The purpose of the | :40:44. | :40:50. | |
legislation is to allow English and Welsh MPs to either consent or veto | :40:51. | :40:54. | |
the clauses and amendments lade to the bill. I will not detail the | :40:55. | :40:59. | |
territorial extent that the Germans and an clause, again drawing | :41:00. | :41:05. | |
attention to my written minhsterial statement of the 7th of Jantary | :41:06. | :41:09. | |
When we discussed the princhple of English votes for English l`ws in | :41:10. | :41:12. | |
this house we heard fears it would or could create a class system | :41:13. | :41:17. | |
within this chamber. As the First Minister to lead a bill through this | :41:18. | :41:22. | |
process I am happy to report that has not been my experience. The | :41:23. | :41:26. | |
debates in public bill commhttee and report stage clearly demonstrate the | :41:27. | :41:29. | |
majority of members of Parlhament support the measures in this bill. | :41:30. | :41:33. | |
For example although we did not have the pleasure of their company in the | :41:34. | :41:37. | |
public bill committee the honourable member for Kilmarnock and for | :41:38. | :41:42. | |
Glasgow Central insured that constituents in Scotland were | :41:43. | :41:46. | |
represented during the debate both at second reading and indeed at | :41:47. | :41:51. | |
report stage. As well as thd questions over territorial dxtent of | :41:52. | :41:54. | |
our new duty on public sector organisations to dispose of land we | :41:55. | :41:59. | |
have also discussed applications of landlords or housing associ`tions | :42:00. | :42:02. | |
who may have properties in devolved Administration 's as well as in | :42:03. | :42:08. | |
England. My department is responsible for local authorities, | :42:09. | :42:11. | |
communities and housing is `ll seasons in England, in many ways we | :42:12. | :42:15. | |
are the Department for Engl`nd. It is therefore fitting that the | :42:16. | :42:19. | |
majority of clauses in Mr Speaker's certification for this very first | :42:20. | :42:23. | |
committee relates to England only. Thanks to members on both shdes of | :42:24. | :42:28. | |
the house, both sides of thd chamber, I am satisfied that the | :42:29. | :42:31. | |
house is considered the bills applications for the whole of our | :42:32. | :42:34. | |
United Kingdom. I am grateftl for giving way, he as pointed ott that | :42:35. | :42:40. | |
this bill relates to England only, does he agree with me and c`n I put | :42:41. | :42:44. | |
on record that it is absolutely right that only English MPs who | :42:45. | :42:48. | |
should be voting for it, as one of those who will be excluded H applaud | :42:49. | :42:53. | |
those English MPs who have decided that their constituencies should not | :42:54. | :42:57. | |
have outcome is affected by those coming from Scotland, Wales and | :42:58. | :43:02. | |
elsewhere in the United Kingdom My friend makes a good point. There are | :43:03. | :43:07. | |
some parts which cover across into Wales and we will deal with that | :43:08. | :43:12. | |
separately this afternoon. Ly noble friend Baroness Williams will | :43:13. | :43:15. | |
continue to ensure that any cross-border issues are cardfully | :43:16. | :43:19. | |
considered also in the other place. This is a historic bell in lany | :43:20. | :43:23. | |
ways, it will put homeownership with a grasp of generations who have only | :43:24. | :43:27. | |
dream being impossible for lany years and it will deliver a system | :43:28. | :43:32. | |
to be the envy of the world. It will get Britain building again. By being | :43:33. | :43:35. | |
the first bill through this procedure we go further. I `m proud | :43:36. | :43:40. | |
of the steps this elected government is taking through this legislation | :43:41. | :43:44. | |
to deliver our manifesto commitments. I am also proud of the | :43:45. | :43:50. | |
steps... On manifesto commitments, will he confirm that the reloval of | :43:51. | :43:56. | |
secure tenancies from counchl tenants was not in the Consdrvative | :43:57. | :44:01. | |
manifesto and the government has no mandate in order to introduce that | :44:02. | :44:04. | |
abolition of secure tenancids and therefore, for council tenants, they | :44:05. | :44:09. | |
were not warned by the Consdrvatives that this is something they were | :44:10. | :44:15. | |
going to impose? I had to s`y that we have had this debate through the | :44:16. | :44:18. | |
committee stage and earlier today at report stage but what I would say is | :44:19. | :44:22. | |
he should look carefully at the bill which does deliver the manifesto | :44:23. | :44:25. | |
commitments and will deliver homeownership to a whole new | :44:26. | :44:29. | |
generation of people. It will also ensure we extend homeownership to | :44:30. | :44:34. | |
1.3 million people who have been locked out of it before, both of | :44:35. | :44:37. | |
which are issues his party opposite have fought to prevent at every | :44:38. | :44:40. | |
opportunity, and I think disgracefully so. I am not taking | :44:41. | :44:45. | |
any more interventions. I al proud of the steps this government has | :44:46. | :44:50. | |
taken to bring fairness to the devilish and -- devolution | :44:51. | :44:55. | |
settlement. I would ask the committee to consent to the motions | :44:56. | :44:58. | |
to the certified clauses and schedules of the housing and | :44:59. | :45:01. | |
planning Bill and certified amendments made by the housd to the | :45:02. | :45:09. | |
bell. Thank you. The question is, at the consent motion relating to | :45:10. | :45:12. | |
England and Wales as on the notice paper. John Healey. Not John Healey. | :45:13. | :45:23. | |
LAUGHTER I beg the honourable gentlelan s | :45:24. | :45:29. | |
pardon. Pete Wishart. Madam Deputy Speaker I am grateful, so, so, this | :45:30. | :45:37. | |
is what an English parliament looks like. It looks pretty much like the | :45:38. | :45:44. | |
unitary UK Parliament to me. Madam did they Speaker, this is a | :45:45. | :45:53. | |
remarkable day. I think it's worth noting the significance of how | :45:54. | :45:59. | |
historical this is because for the first time in the history of this | :46:00. | :46:04. | |
house, of this Parliament, lembers of Parliament will be banned from | :46:05. | :46:08. | |
participating in divisions of this house based on nationality `nd | :46:09. | :46:17. | |
geographic location of constituency. The honourable member's constituents | :46:18. | :46:21. | |
in Perth and North Pilcher who may well have voted for him surdly see | :46:22. | :46:25. | |
this as a very fair motion to safeguard the United Kingdol by | :46:26. | :46:36. | |
having a fair... The honour`ble gentleman tempts me and I whll say a | :46:37. | :46:41. | |
couple of things, one thing, I was elected on the same basis as this | :46:42. | :46:44. | |
honourable gentleman, my constituents expect me to p`ss to | :46:45. | :46:49. | |
pay in debates and legislathon in this house -- participate. H am now | :46:50. | :46:53. | |
denied that. The second thing I would say to the honourable | :46:54. | :46:57. | |
gentleman, if he thinks that going down such a route as this where | :46:58. | :47:02. | |
Scottish members of Parliamdnt are banned from voting on certahn issues | :47:03. | :47:07. | |
considered English only is going to save his union, he is going to have | :47:08. | :47:13. | |
another thought coming becatse nothing, nothing Madam Deputy | :47:14. | :47:17. | |
Speaker has infuriated the Scottish people more than the measurds around | :47:18. | :47:21. | |
English votes for English l`ws and how can I resist the honour`ble | :47:22. | :47:26. | |
gentleman? Can he just tell me if he is such a passionate believdr in as | :47:27. | :47:30. | |
settling everything together why I am not allowed to express otr view | :47:31. | :47:34. | |
let alone a vote on local government health and education in his | :47:35. | :47:41. | |
constituency? The honourabld gentleman just does not unddrstand | :47:42. | :47:44. | |
and I will try to explain p`tiently once again, we live in the Tnited | :47:45. | :47:53. | |
Kingdom, there is asymmetric devolution and we have a parliament | :47:54. | :47:56. | |
in Scotland which determines and decides the very issues... Order! | :47:57. | :48:01. | |
Order! The honourable gentldman is a member of this house and has a right | :48:02. | :48:07. | |
to be heard, he will be heard. Pete Wishart. Thank you, I didn't know if | :48:08. | :48:11. | |
I was a member of the house or an international observer! Thank you, | :48:12. | :48:18. | |
can I say, we have a parlialent in Scotland which determines and | :48:19. | :48:22. | |
decides these things and we do that in Scotland. We do these thhngs in | :48:23. | :48:26. | |
this house as well but what the honourable gentleman wants `nd what | :48:27. | :48:29. | |
has been created to date is a cause I English parliament within the | :48:30. | :48:33. | |
confines of the unitary parliament of the night kingdom and Northern | :48:34. | :48:38. | |
Ireland and that is the nub of the issue and that is why this hs so | :48:39. | :48:41. | |
significant and so remarkable, the first meeting am I will givd way of | :48:42. | :48:49. | |
course. I am grateful, may H remind him that what we had before today is | :48:50. | :48:54. | |
at consent mechanism, that hs for members of England and Engl`nd and | :48:55. | :48:57. | |
Wales to agree to measures which apply only with us. At third reading | :48:58. | :49:02. | |
if there is something in thd Bill which he fundamentally disagrees | :49:03. | :49:05. | |
with you or have a vote to vote against it. Can I tell you what it | :49:06. | :49:11. | |
feels like to ask? What it feels like to me and my right honourable | :49:12. | :49:16. | |
friends is that we are on the wrong side of banishment. The bar. It | :49:17. | :49:22. | |
denies us the right and our right as legitimately elected members of | :49:23. | :49:26. | |
Parliament to participating fully in this house. This is the key of the | :49:27. | :49:33. | |
issue, that they still fail to grasp. What they have done to date | :49:34. | :49:38. | |
to the creation of this comlittee is create two members of Parli`ment in | :49:39. | :49:42. | |
this house. That is the thing we object to, that is the issud which | :49:43. | :49:46. | |
is difficult for us. I will give way. I am very grateful. Thhs side | :49:47. | :49:52. | |
of the house finding its handkerchiefs to mop its te`rs. Can | :49:53. | :49:57. | |
I ask why it is he and his party if they are so passionate about this | :49:58. | :50:02. | |
work no votes from SNP membdrs on the second reading or at report | :50:03. | :50:09. | |
stage? We don't have any grdat interest in this particular bill. | :50:10. | :50:17. | |
LAUGHTER I don't know why that comes a | :50:18. | :50:20. | |
surprise to the honourable gentleman and I will say it again, we have no | :50:21. | :50:26. | |
great interest in this parthcular bill and the honourable gentleman is | :50:27. | :50:31. | |
right, he is right. The honourable gentleman is absolutely right, we | :50:32. | :50:34. | |
did not vote in second readhng or in any of the proceedings we wdre | :50:35. | :50:39. | |
allowed to participate in bdcause we respect the right of English members | :50:40. | :50:42. | |
of Parliament to determine hssues on this basis. Of course that hs the | :50:43. | :50:46. | |
right and that is why we took no interest, I am not giving w`y again, | :50:47. | :50:52. | |
that is why we stayed away. What this piece of legislation does, the | :50:53. | :50:59. | |
creation of this committee, again, I am astounded that honourabld members | :51:00. | :51:03. | |
opposite do not understand or get this. What you have done, what | :51:04. | :51:09. | |
honourable members have dond is create two classes of members of | :51:10. | :51:13. | |
Parliament of this house. There is one class that is able and has the | :51:14. | :51:18. | |
ability to participate in every division of this house and there are | :51:19. | :51:22. | |
other members of Parliament like my honourable friend behind me who are | :51:23. | :51:32. | |
not able to participate will. Even if I wanted to have a say in this | :51:33. | :51:35. | |
legislation I would be barrdd from doing so, I'm not allowed to vote on | :51:36. | :51:40. | |
this. I am not allowed to c`ll division. If I tempted to do so you | :51:41. | :51:46. | |
would quite rightly ruled md out of order. If I was to vote I h`ve no | :51:47. | :51:51. | |
idea what would happen, I al puzzlingly Serjeant of arms will | :51:52. | :51:54. | |
come chasing after me with his little sword telling me I c`nnot | :51:55. | :51:57. | |
participate and chase me out and that is what he should do. That is | :51:58. | :52:01. | |
what the job of the Serjeant of arms should be. I thank the honotrable | :52:02. | :52:09. | |
gentleman forgiving way, yot know I have a great deal of respect for him | :52:10. | :52:12. | |
but he has talked about how this feels to him and his colleagues can | :52:13. | :52:17. | |
I say how it has built for ly constituents in South Devon? That is | :52:18. | :52:21. | |
that a historic injustice h`s been rated today and I would just put | :52:22. | :52:24. | |
that to him, that they feel they have been underrepresented `nd it's | :52:25. | :52:27. | |
about our are not ourselves. Here is something for the Honourable | :52:28. | :52:37. | |
Lady, whom I have much respdct for, to consider. If we all have the same | :52:38. | :52:44. | |
rights and privileges in thhs House of Commons, and the Honourable Lady | :52:45. | :52:48. | |
and all her friends, who fedl strongly about this, and I | :52:49. | :52:51. | |
understand the passion that this engenders for English members of | :52:52. | :52:57. | |
Parliament, how about they come into Parliament, and design a Parliament | :52:58. | :53:00. | |
in your own image where you could look after these issues likd we do | :53:01. | :53:03. | |
in the Scottish Parliament, why not have a Parliament that sits not | :53:04. | :53:07. | |
necessarily in this House btt in one of the other great cities in the UK | :53:08. | :53:10. | |
where democracy could be sedn in action, then we come back together | :53:11. | :53:16. | |
in this House as equal membdrs and consider the great reserved issues | :53:17. | :53:21. | |
of foreign affairs and defence. That is how most other nations do it It | :53:22. | :53:26. | |
is called federalism and it seems to work adequately in most othdr | :53:27. | :53:30. | |
nations. What these Honorourable Members have done today is create | :53:31. | :53:37. | |
this absolute mess that nobody even understands how a particular the | :53:38. | :53:40. | |
works. We have just called division bells to suspend proceedings of this | :53:41. | :53:44. | |
House for the Speaker to sctrry off and consult with the clerks of the | :53:45. | :53:49. | |
House to recertify and see hf business is very to recertify | :53:50. | :53:52. | |
certain pieces of legislation. This is what has happened to the business | :53:53. | :53:57. | |
of this, this great Parliamdnt, within the union. I will give it | :53:58. | :54:02. | |
away again to My Honourable Friend whom I like very much. I'm grateful | :54:03. | :54:06. | |
to the honourable gentleman for giving way but he has got it | :54:07. | :54:09. | |
fundamentally wrong. The two tiers of Parma have not entreated by the | :54:10. | :54:14. | |
mechanism used. By using st`nding orders, which can be changed by all | :54:15. | :54:18. | |
members up Parliament and bx this being a grand committee, not, and we | :54:19. | :54:25. | |
see where the Mace is, and not the House sitting in full session, the | :54:26. | :54:29. | |
rights of every individual lember remain intact, and that is crucially | :54:30. | :54:35. | |
important. Again, I have to say to the honourable gentleman, it is not | :54:36. | :54:38. | |
what it feels like from this site. What we are observing and | :54:39. | :54:43. | |
experiencing when a division is called is that he will be able to | :54:44. | :54:47. | |
vote from that position, he will be able to express his view as a | :54:48. | :54:53. | |
legitimate need elected member of Parliament and other regiments that | :54:54. | :55:00. | |
the elected members will be barred, we will be effectively banished from | :55:01. | :55:03. | |
that process. -- other legitimately elected members. Would the | :55:04. | :55:07. | |
honourable gentleman really expect that the taxpayers of this country | :55:08. | :55:13. | |
are supposed to pay for this other Parliament he wishes to cre`te | :55:14. | :55:16. | |
Sibley because his feelings are somehow are sorted? I don't know how | :55:17. | :55:21. | |
we can explain that extra l`yer of bureaucracy and cost to the British | :55:22. | :55:26. | |
taxpayer, but that is how they like to do it in Scotland, and spend | :55:27. | :55:33. | |
other people's money. What H think the Honourable Lady is saying is | :55:34. | :55:37. | |
that she wants some cake and once great dollops of it so that she can | :55:38. | :55:42. | |
spend her time reading it. That is to have an English Parliament and | :55:43. | :55:45. | |
let's just use the House of Commons to accommodate that. What h`s been | :55:46. | :55:50. | |
created here is a quasi English Parliament. This Parliament belongs | :55:51. | :55:54. | |
to me, as much as her, to Scottish people as much as English pdople, | :55:55. | :55:57. | |
but what has happened today and what is happening with this grand | :55:58. | :56:03. | |
committee is that she will be able to represent her constituents in all | :56:04. | :56:07. | |
the divisions of the House `nd I will not. That is what has been | :56:08. | :56:10. | |
created. I will give way to my neighbour. What the House whll read | :56:11. | :56:19. | |
from the honourable gentlem`n's honourable -- passionate and fluent | :56:20. | :56:23. | |
speech is that these furious about a typically British evolution in the | :56:24. | :56:30. | |
system of government which blocks his most devout desire which is | :56:31. | :56:34. | |
separation for Scotland. Thhs is a system that makes it fair on England | :56:35. | :56:39. | |
and deals with that grievance and means that his hope of independence | :56:40. | :56:43. | |
disappears. That is why he hs so angry. With so many things from the | :56:44. | :56:51. | |
honourable gentleman, he is half right. This has been noted hn | :56:52. | :56:54. | |
Scotland. What people in Scotland are seeing is, this Parliamdnt will | :56:55. | :56:59. | |
become in effect an English Parliament. They see the vohces of | :57:00. | :57:03. | |
their recently elected membdrs of Parliament being diminished within | :57:04. | :57:06. | |
this House where they will not be able to speak and vote in p`rticular | :57:07. | :57:11. | |
lobbies. I listened to the leader of the during the debate on EVDL, and | :57:12. | :57:18. | |
during all the discussions `nd debates we had on English Votes for | :57:19. | :57:24. | |
English Laws, these would bd subject to a double majority, a votd of the | :57:25. | :57:28. | |
whole House that would exprdss is about and then a folly in mdmbers of | :57:29. | :57:31. | |
Parliament and that would effectively be their veto. But what | :57:32. | :57:34. | |
has happened is that there has been a Irishman, there has been ` bar. -- | :57:35. | :57:41. | |
there has been a punishment. This is what happens when we start lucking | :57:42. | :57:45. | |
about with the standing orddrs and arrangements for members in this | :57:46. | :57:49. | |
House. We are left members who can do anything, and participatd and | :57:50. | :57:55. | |
other members, who cannot, `nd it is totally unsatisfactory. We have just | :57:56. | :58:01. | |
wasted goodness knows much time discussing these issues tod`y. It | :58:02. | :58:04. | |
has made such a mess to the proceedings of this House, dxtra | :58:05. | :58:10. | |
elements and additions put onto a hard-working House when it hs | :58:11. | :58:14. | |
considering bills. He has already told the House that the Scottish | :58:15. | :58:20. | |
Nationalist party has no interest in this measure, which in no w`y | :58:21. | :58:26. | |
applies to Scotland and therefore will not vote on the matter, so what | :58:27. | :58:31. | |
is his problem? They have every right to speak on this and now we | :58:32. | :58:35. | |
have redressed and injusticd whereby we on these benches have felt, for | :58:36. | :58:40. | |
years, as second-class citizens while we have been unable to vote on | :58:41. | :58:45. | |
matters of health and education in Scotland, and they have been able to | :58:46. | :58:50. | |
vote on matters solely to do with England, and will the honourable | :58:51. | :58:52. | |
gentleman tell us this, on the hunting measure that was proposed to | :58:53. | :58:56. | |
bring hunting regulations in England and Wales into line with those in | :58:57. | :59:02. | |
Scotland, will the Scottish -- would the Scottish National Party have | :59:03. | :59:06. | |
voted on that one? Can I sax this to the honourable gentleman in all | :59:07. | :59:13. | |
candour and respect? We hear so much from our English colleagues about | :59:14. | :59:17. | |
the deeply held views they have about English Votes for English Laws | :59:18. | :59:21. | |
and the honourable gentleman is a fine exponent of that, the | :59:22. | :59:26. | |
injustice, how dare you Scots are press all these English members who | :59:27. | :59:30. | |
only make up 85% of members, coming down here, stealing their boats and | :59:31. | :59:34. | |
ensure that we have a say in the legislation. If I look round the | :59:35. | :59:37. | |
Chamber, the Conservative m`jority that we have, 88% of this House is | :59:38. | :59:47. | |
English-olly. It is a ridictlous argument. It is a ridiculous | :59:48. | :59:51. | |
assumption. I did want to t`ke up any more time on this. I can if you | :59:52. | :59:58. | |
want! We will be coming back to these issues in the future. This is | :59:59. | :00:04. | |
not concluded. They all think and I have heard again several in which | :00:05. | :00:07. | |
members saying they are doing this to save the union. Can I just add a | :00:08. | :00:13. | |
word of caution to my friends who represent English constituencies? | :00:14. | :00:17. | |
What you are doing today is pursuing this issue in the way that xou have, | :00:18. | :00:21. | |
you are driving Scotland out of the door. This is how it is being | :00:22. | :00:27. | |
observed in Scotland. What we have had during the referendum, `nd you | :00:28. | :00:32. | |
will remember this, "Stay whth us my Scotland, Scotland we love xou" and | :00:33. | :00:36. | |
the minute we parked our backsides on these green benches we are | :00:37. | :00:39. | |
diminished in status and not allowed to have a stay. As someone who | :00:40. | :00:44. | |
represents proudly and Englhsh constituency, I feel today `nd I | :00:45. | :00:49. | |
don't know if my colleagues on the Labour benches feel the samd, that | :00:50. | :00:52. | |
the Tories are making precisely the same mistake as their predecessors | :00:53. | :00:59. | |
did over Ireland. So frustr`ting the way that Scottish members c`n decide | :01:00. | :01:04. | |
on the issue should not be one they should vote on. To try and have | :01:05. | :01:10. | |
first and second class membdrs does a disservice to the union of great | :01:11. | :01:15. | |
button, of the United Kingdom, and I deplore what is being done. I am | :01:16. | :01:20. | |
very grateful to the honour`ble gentleman, I knew when I give way to | :01:21. | :01:24. | |
him that we would be hearing one of the quality interventions in this | :01:25. | :01:28. | |
debate. And he is absolutelx and utterly right in what he saxs. Were | :01:29. | :01:34. | |
other was his front bench, though? They are not here to make any sort | :01:35. | :01:38. | |
of speech statement about this. Why are they not participating? I | :01:39. | :01:45. | |
remember when we had 50- odd members from Labour in this Parliamdnt, they | :01:46. | :01:52. | |
would be standing for Scotl`nd, but there is complete silence from the | :01:53. | :01:57. | |
Labour benches today. I am delighted the honourable gentleman is giving | :01:58. | :02:02. | |
way because non-SNP members of Parliament in this Chamber have | :02:03. | :02:04. | |
participated in this bill all the way through. We see this process is | :02:05. | :02:08. | |
being a complete share rathdr as well. Whilst I will be voting at | :02:09. | :02:13. | |
2:45am on behalf of my stitchers, the member for Perth and North | :02:14. | :02:17. | |
Perthshire was in his bed. ,- my constituents. Maybe, maybe... It is | :02:18. | :02:26. | |
with great fascination that we hear from the one and only Scotthsh | :02:27. | :02:31. | |
Labour member of Parliament. Maybe that is the reason the honotrable | :02:32. | :02:37. | |
gentleman is in such a diminished position. Their silence on these | :02:38. | :02:40. | |
issues, the way that they h`ve ignored all the way through, and | :02:41. | :02:44. | |
this weeks Williams about the attitude of the Labour Partx, that | :02:45. | :02:51. | |
we hear from Labour on their view on what has happened today. Madam | :02:52. | :02:57. | |
Deputy Speaker, I will conclude I will give way to the Honour`ble | :02:58. | :03:02. | |
Lady. As somebody who was hdre in the wee small hours, the Labour | :03:03. | :03:06. | |
Party were notable for their absence, being too busy cle`ring | :03:07. | :03:11. | |
their own eyes out at the thme. They have a check to come and lecture us, | :03:12. | :03:17. | |
here. I am grateful to the Honourable Lady for reminding us, | :03:18. | :03:20. | |
that was the night of the l`nd we shovel. -- reshuffle. I did want to | :03:21. | :03:28. | |
take up any more of the timd of the House. All I would say is that if | :03:29. | :03:32. | |
you think that this is saving their union... I will give way. Thank you | :03:33. | :03:41. | |
again, Madam Chairman. I am grateful to the honourable gentleman for | :03:42. | :03:46. | |
allowing me to intervene, shnce the House voted that this is an historic | :03:47. | :03:55. | |
occasion, this occasion is not flawed, it is designated as applying | :03:56. | :04:01. | |
exclusively to England. Perhaps the Minister would just turn quhckly | :04:02. | :04:06. | |
before we proceed to new closest to do and see whether it applids not | :04:07. | :04:11. | |
just England but I think thd words "Wales" apply, or are in thd cause. | :04:12. | :04:19. | |
The Honourable Lady has madd a creative intervention to put a point | :04:20. | :04:21. | |
directly the Minister which deserves a response. All I can say from our | :04:22. | :04:27. | |
perspective on this is that we will see lots of issues like this. With | :04:28. | :04:31. | |
the rulings of EVEL to be confined to a grand committee such as this is | :04:32. | :04:35. | |
that no consequential issues will be considered by the Speaker to issue | :04:36. | :04:39. | |
certification. There will bd issues which will impact on my constituents | :04:40. | :04:43. | |
down the line and I will not be able to represent my constituents in | :04:44. | :04:47. | |
these things. If they believe that this is going to have anythhng other | :04:48. | :04:51. | |
than a totally detrimental hmpact for the fortunes of the Conservative | :04:52. | :04:55. | |
Party in Scotland, they will have to have another think about thhs. This | :04:56. | :05:00. | |
is unworkable. This is a mess. This creates two classes of membdrs of | :05:01. | :05:03. | |
Parliament in this House and it is totally unacceptable to the Scottish | :05:04. | :05:07. | |
National Party and to my Honourable Friends. Madam Chairman, I rise to | :05:08. | :05:16. | |
thank ministers for taking Dngland this first step on the journey to | :05:17. | :05:19. | |
justice and fairness for our country. And having participated in | :05:20. | :05:25. | |
recent parliaments and seemdd very large powers transferred to Scotland | :05:26. | :05:29. | |
for self-government in accordance with the wishes of many Scottish | :05:30. | :05:35. | |
people and they're now -voc`l representatives from the SNP, I | :05:36. | :05:40. | |
would have thought, on this day of all days, it was the day for | :05:41. | :05:43. | |
Scotland to say, we will cole some justice for England to create a | :05:44. | :05:49. | |
happier union, just as we h`ve fought so strongly for so long for | :05:50. | :05:53. | |
more independence for Scotl`nd. And I do hope the SNP will reconsider | :05:54. | :05:58. | |
and understand that, in a h`ppy union, where there are very | :05:59. | :06:05. | |
substantial devolved powers for Scotland of self-government, which | :06:06. | :06:09. | |
they have chosen to exercisd through an independent Parliament, so there | :06:10. | :06:12. | |
needs to be some independent right of voice and vote and judgmdnt for | :06:13. | :06:17. | |
the people of England, which we choose to do, through the United | :06:18. | :06:20. | |
Kingdom Parliament, because we think we can do both jobs and we do not | :06:21. | :06:25. | |
wish to burden people with lore expense and more bureaucracx. And on | :06:26. | :06:30. | |
this day of all days, when Labour has been reduced to a party of | :06:31. | :06:35. | |
England and Wales and almost eliminated from Scotland in this | :06:36. | :06:39. | |
Parliament, I would of thought that the front bench -- I would have | :06:40. | :06:46. | |
thought that the front bench, our party is speaking for England. The | :06:47. | :06:50. | |
point I am making is that now that the Labour Party in this Hotse | :06:51. | :06:54. | |
represents parts of England and Wales, but has so little | :06:55. | :06:57. | |
representation in Scotland, doesn't it behove them to listen to their | :06:58. | :07:01. | |
English voters, and underst`nd that, whilst they may not want justice for | :07:02. | :07:05. | |
England, their voters do want justice for England, and ard fully | :07:06. | :07:09. | |
behind what this government is doing? I'm grateful to my Rhght | :07:10. | :07:15. | |
Honourable Friend and I would like to congratulate him on the work he | :07:16. | :07:19. | |
has carried out for many ye`rs champ anime the need for EVEL to be | :07:20. | :07:23. | |
brought in. Does he agree whth me that having failed completely to | :07:24. | :07:25. | |
persuade the Scottish peopld to end the union, the greatest hopd of the | :07:26. | :07:29. | |
Nationalists would be the grievance and resentment in England that | :07:30. | :07:33. | |
Scotland could be pushed out, and this modest step today is a way of | :07:34. | :07:37. | |
alleviating that grievance, and that is why the honourable gentldman | :07:38. | :07:40. | |
opposite was quite so angry in his speech? | :07:41. | :07:48. | |
I entirely agree. The way to preserve and develop the unhon is to | :07:49. | :07:55. | |
show that it is fair to all parts. I am sure that will mean greater | :07:56. | :07:58. | |
powers of independence for Scotland and we will gain for England but we | :07:59. | :08:03. | |
cannot ignore England. Engl`nd deserves a voice, England ddserves | :08:04. | :08:07. | |
its votes and England deserves at the very least the right to veto | :08:08. | :08:11. | |
proposals which do not suit England but all may affect England `nd I | :08:12. | :08:15. | |
think we need to go on to h`ve their finances as well otherwise the | :08:16. | :08:20. | |
English people will not with their union as we would like. So Ladam | :08:21. | :08:26. | |
Chairman I hope that today hs a day to advance the cause of the union | :08:27. | :08:30. | |
rather than to damage it. I hope it's a day when other Scots will | :08:31. | :08:34. | |
welcome this small step on the road of justice for England and see that | :08:35. | :08:38. | |
it helps them as well as ours and that what is wrong with England | :08:39. | :08:43. | |
having a voice and its own political views and some of its own political | :08:44. | :08:48. | |
decision-making in a union when Scotland has taken a great deal of | :08:49. | :08:52. | |
that following a general eldction when all the main parties fought on | :08:53. | :08:56. | |
United proposition that there should be more right to self-government for | :08:57. | :09:00. | |
Scotland but when my party wisely said that meant there had to be some | :09:01. | :09:05. | |
justice for England as well, this is a small step towards that jtstice | :09:06. | :09:08. | |
and I hope this house will welcome it and not oppose it. John Healey. | :09:09. | :09:19. | |
Madam Deputy Speaker, thank you We have intended simply to leave the | :09:20. | :09:23. | |
government to deal with the mess of their own making in this debate | :09:24. | :09:29. | |
This debate this afternoon hs about the housing and planning Bill. With | :09:30. | :09:34. | |
respect to the right honour`ble gentleman it's not about thd union, | :09:35. | :09:38. | |
it's not about justice for part of the union, this is quite silply a | :09:39. | :09:43. | |
motion and a debate about the housing and planning Bill. The | :09:44. | :09:45. | |
rather ridiculous proceedings that we have seen this afternoon and the | :09:46. | :09:51. | |
overexcitement and align thd floors of rushing the floor of this house | :09:52. | :09:59. | |
without proper consideration, without proper consultation, without | :10:00. | :10:04. | |
proper cross-party agreement. I say to the house, Madam Deputy Speaker, | :10:05. | :10:13. | |
we want and recognise the nded for a stronger voice for England hn this | :10:14. | :10:18. | |
Parliament. But we have alw`ys said voice, not a veto. This leghslative | :10:19. | :10:26. | |
grand committee is a veto shmply for those members eligible. That should | :10:27. | :10:32. | |
not be happening in this wax in a unified Parliament of the United | :10:33. | :10:39. | |
Kingdom. I give way. I am grateful, he appears to have neglected the | :10:40. | :10:44. | |
apposite point made by my honourable friend and reiterated throughout the | :10:45. | :10:46. | |
procedure committee when we discussed this proposal, th`t it was | :10:47. | :10:51. | |
a change to standing orders on almost a suck it and see basis, this | :10:52. | :10:57. | |
great totemic change which hs supposed to have taken placd with | :10:58. | :11:00. | |
the rules of the house is not there, it is not in statute law or anything | :11:01. | :11:04. | |
else, if we need to tweak it, we can. This is only standing orders. | :11:05. | :11:10. | |
But standing orders can alw`ys be altered, in particular by | :11:11. | :11:18. | |
government. By doing it in this way, the government on this occasion in | :11:19. | :11:23. | |
this way is creating an extremely unsatisfactory procedure th`t the | :11:24. | :11:25. | |
debate this afternoon have demonstrated. Let me say to the | :11:26. | :11:32. | |
Scottish Nationalists, I have not seen and none of my colleagtes have | :11:33. | :11:37. | |
seen, and this house is not seen, the Scottish Nationalists ott in | :11:38. | :11:41. | |
such numbers in debates on the housing and planning Bill. We have | :11:42. | :11:48. | |
not seen them at any stage hn any vote at second reading our committee | :11:49. | :11:53. | |
or report, voting on this bhll. The honourable member for Perth and | :11:54. | :11:57. | |
North Perthshire said to thd house this afternoon that we have little | :11:58. | :12:02. | |
interest in this bill and hd's right! Because so little of this | :12:03. | :12:06. | |
bill does concern Scotland `nd he would be much better, he and his | :12:07. | :12:12. | |
party, concentrating on his own Poirot girding government and in | :12:13. | :12:16. | |
proving what the SNP governlent is doing in Scotland on housing. | :12:17. | :12:37. | |
This debate and proceedings is preventing us from getting on with | :12:38. | :12:41. | |
the proper job of holding this government to task on the housing | :12:42. | :12:44. | |
and planning Bill in this chamber and I hope we can move on to the | :12:45. | :12:47. | |
third reading without any ftrther delay. | :12:48. | :12:54. | |
I remind honourable members that, although I don't think they need to | :12:55. | :13:02. | |
be reminded, that if there hs a division on the consent mothon for | :13:03. | :13:08. | |
England and Wales, only members representing constituencies in | :13:09. | :13:12. | |
England and Wales may vote. But I do remind honourable members that this | :13:13. | :13:20. | |
extends to expressing an ophnion by calling out aye or no when the | :13:21. | :13:24. | |
question is put and it extends to acting as a teller. I know the | :13:25. | :13:30. | |
honourable gentleman knows that I know a Scottish voice when H hear | :13:31. | :13:38. | |
one. LAUGHTER The question is, the consent motion | :13:39. | :13:44. | |
relating to England and Walds as on the notice paper. As many as are of | :13:45. | :13:52. | |
that opinion it's a aye. On the contrary, no. No. The ayes habit. | :13:53. | :14:03. | |
The ayes habit. On a serious point of order I am | :14:04. | :14:15. | |
very conflicted because I do not want in any way to be critical of | :14:16. | :14:21. | |
the Speaker and his certification. That's the speaker clearly today | :14:22. | :14:26. | |
confirmed his provisional certification and that incltded a | :14:27. | :14:29. | |
reference to new clause 62 `s being exclusively applicable to England. | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
New clause 62 applies to both England and Wales. What could be | :14:35. | :14:43. | |
deputy chairman advertise when a certification by the speaker for | :14:44. | :14:46. | |
whom I have enormous regard, appears to be flawed? The honourabld lady | :14:47. | :14:53. | |
makes a perfectly reasonabld point and it is important we conshder | :14:54. | :14:57. | |
points of order because this is a new procedure and the procedure | :14:58. | :15:00. | |
committee has assured the house that it will be looking at the procedure | :15:01. | :15:07. | |
and how it works in practicd. What I can say to the honourable l`dy is | :15:08. | :15:12. | |
that Mr Speaker did make av`ilable in the vote office and in other ways | :15:13. | :15:17. | |
several days ago his provishonal decision on this matter. Thdre have | :15:18. | :15:22. | |
been several days during whhch the honourable lady and indeed `ny other | :15:23. | :15:27. | |
honourable member had an opportunity to make representations to Lr | :15:28. | :15:32. | |
Speaker exactly along the lhnes he has just informed the house. If this | :15:33. | :15:37. | |
happens in future and the honourable lady has similar concerns then she | :15:38. | :15:43. | |
can, she will have ample opportunity to take those concerns are per with | :15:44. | :15:47. | |
Mr Speaker before we get to this point in proceedings. I would hate | :15:48. | :15:59. | |
to think that because of fl`wed procedure has been followed in this | :16:00. | :16:02. | |
case, and I do apologise for not bringing this to the speaker 's | :16:03. | :16:05. | |
attention earlier but I am bringing it to the attention of the house | :16:06. | :16:10. | |
today. It's a very important point, honourable members and right | :16:11. | :16:12. | |
honourable members will be `sked to go through the lobby, apart from | :16:13. | :16:17. | |
those of us from Northern Ireland, about that I feel exceedingly | :16:18. | :16:20. | |
resentful and think it's quhte wrong and I do have an interest in this | :16:21. | :16:24. | |
bill because my constituents are landlords who are affected by it. | :16:25. | :16:28. | |
Today I would like Madam Ch`irman to give advice on whether we should | :16:29. | :16:33. | |
pause and postpone this historic occasion and till we get thd | :16:34. | :16:35. | |
certification correct by thd speaker? No, again, the honourable | :16:36. | :16:42. | |
lady makes a perfectly reasonable point which I think I have `lready | :16:43. | :16:47. | |
answered and the fact is th`t the decision of the house was t`ken on | :16:48. | :16:51. | |
the 22nd of October that we would proceed as we are proceeding today. | :16:52. | :16:56. | |
What I have said to the honourable lady is that if she has concerns | :16:57. | :17:00. | |
about how matters work in practice both the procedure committed will | :17:01. | :17:07. | |
look at this as the weeks go on and also Mr Speaker will be ple`sed to | :17:08. | :17:11. | |
hear from the honourable lady if she has concerns the next time we come | :17:12. | :17:16. | |
to this point in proceedings. Back now we will proceed. The hotse shall | :17:17. | :17:24. | |
forthwith resolve itself in the end to the legislative grand colmittee | :17:25. | :17:30. | |
for England. I remind all mdmbers that no further debate on the motion | :17:31. | :17:36. | |
is permitted and if there is a division only members representing | :17:37. | :17:40. | |
constituencies in England m`y vote. This extends to expressing `n | :17:41. | :17:47. | |
opinion as I have already s`id. I call the minister to move the | :17:48. | :17:51. | |
consent motion for England formally. Move formally. The question is the | :17:52. | :17:58. | |
consent motion relating to Dngland as on the notice paper, as lany that | :17:59. | :18:05. | |
opinion say aye. Aye. Of thd country no. The ayes habit. -- have it. | :18:06. | :18:13. | |
Order. Order. I beg to report that the legislative | :18:14. | :19:07. | |
grand committee England and Wales and the legislative grand committee | :19:08. | :19:16. | |
England have consented. Third reading now. Secretary of State | :19:17. | :19:25. | |
Greg Clark. Thank you very luch Madam deputies Speaker, I bdg to | :19:26. | :19:30. | |
move that the bill now be rdad for a third time. It is customary on these | :19:31. | :19:33. | |
occasions to thank all thosd involved in the consideration and | :19:34. | :19:37. | |
scrutiny of the bill in question but on this occasion I would bite to pay | :19:38. | :19:41. | |
particular tribute to my honourable friend the member for Great Yarmouth | :19:42. | :19:44. | |
for having moved so eloquently this historic motion for the first time | :19:45. | :19:51. | |
in this house. And to commend the right honourable friend, thd leader | :19:52. | :19:55. | |
of the house, for giving us the opportunity to have the | :19:56. | :19:57. | |
consideration done in this particular way. The debate on this | :19:58. | :20:03. | |
throughout its proceedings has been a rich and vigorous from beginning | :20:04. | :20:07. | |
to end. Those of us who werd here for the first day of the report | :20:08. | :20:13. | |
stage will note that there has been no letup in the Passion or hndeed | :20:14. | :20:17. | |
the number of contributions despite the lateness of the hour. Bdfore | :20:18. | :20:22. | |
embarking on the traditional congratulations I would likd to | :20:23. | :20:26. | |
suggest that for the whole house a degree of humility would be in order | :20:27. | :20:30. | |
on the part of us all. Becatse housing, let me make some process, | :20:31. | :20:35. | |
housing and planning policy has been debated in this place and the other | :20:36. | :20:39. | |
place for decades and yet for decades this country has not built | :20:40. | :20:44. | |
the number of new homes we need Despite the improvements in recent | :20:45. | :20:49. | |
years with a 50% increase in new housing starts and planning | :20:50. | :20:55. | |
permission now at over 200,000 per year, the last time we conshstently | :20:56. | :20:59. | |
build 200,000 homes per year was back in 1988. I will give w`y. I go | :21:00. | :21:06. | |
back to the comment about your military because I wonder if he | :21:07. | :21:10. | |
would take this opportunity to apologise to council tenants for not | :21:11. | :21:13. | |
informing them at the gener`l election it was the intention of the | :21:14. | :21:17. | |
Conservatives to take away secure tenancies and introducing it to the | :21:18. | :21:21. | |
bell in the latter stages, will he now apologise for that becatse | :21:22. | :21:24. | |
council tenants were not given that information when they went to vote | :21:25. | :21:30. | |
in the general election. Gohng back to 2010 the Prime Minister thought | :21:31. | :21:35. | |
it was reasonable that when we are allocating homes as social tenancies | :21:36. | :21:39. | |
the idea that you should inherit without conditions at tenancies | :21:40. | :21:43. | |
should be something that should be amended so that is business which | :21:44. | :21:47. | |
was notified as much as fivd years ago. Evidence of the effects over | :21:48. | :21:54. | |
many administrations of not building the number of homes that we have | :21:55. | :21:59. | |
needed for many decades has been the scene in the lives of those who | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
could, who should and who w`nt to be homeowners but have been denied the | :22:05. | :22:08. | |
opportunity many of us have had Those who say we already buhld | :22:09. | :22:12. | |
enough homes or that home ownership is not important would do wdll to | :22:13. | :22:19. | |
remember that. I applaud his commitment to house-building to make | :22:20. | :22:24. | |
sure that more of our consthtuents can be homeowners and I also applaud | :22:25. | :22:29. | |
my right honourable friend for the undertaking to look for the quality | :22:30. | :22:32. | |
he made to my new clause ond in the he made to my new clause ond in the | :22:33. | :22:35. | |
initial parts of the report stage debate. She has made a very | :22:36. | :22:43. | |
important contribution to the proceedings on this bill, it's | :22:44. | :22:48. | |
absolutely vital that we sed an improvement in the quality of design | :22:49. | :22:52. | |
in our housing stock. One of the features of the last housing bubble | :22:53. | :22:58. | |
which was experienced beford the government came into office was a | :22:59. | :23:04. | |
dearth of new family homes `nd instead most of the increasd in | :23:05. | :23:08. | |
housing that came during th`t time was in the form of flats whhch came | :23:09. | :23:12. | |
from the particular incentive structure which was there where | :23:13. | :23:17. | |
units rather than any suggestion of quality were important and the | :23:18. | :23:22. | |
points that she made have bden well noted and in some of the | :23:23. | :23:25. | |
announcements that the pro-Linister made in recent days we have stressed | :23:26. | :23:30. | |
the importance in regenerathng. I will give way. | :23:31. | :23:40. | |
History mid-off council ten`ncies is a disgrace. He was asked about | :23:41. | :23:49. | |
security. Why can cancel dinner is not continue as happened under the | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
1985 Act introduced by Marg`ret Thatcher to have security in the | :23:54. | :23:56. | |
same way that anybody else would want in their home? That is | :23:57. | :24:01. | |
appalling. Why are we only building starter homes that no one c`n afford | :24:02. | :24:05. | |
instead of social homes which people need and want? The honourable | :24:06. | :24:09. | |
gentleman is completely wrong. If he looked at the housing plans we have, | :24:10. | :24:14. | |
they include building 100,000 houses for affordable rent as well as | :24:15. | :24:19. | |
200,000 starter homes. It is a mandate on which this government was | :24:20. | :24:24. | |
elected to provide homes for people who aspire to own their own home as | :24:25. | :24:28. | |
well as those who want to rdnt them. And it has been one of the failures | :24:29. | :24:33. | |
of recent years that people who have wanted to own their own homd in the | :24:34. | :24:36. | |
way that many members of thhs House have have been denied the | :24:37. | :24:40. | |
opportunity. I will give wax. The honourable gentleman is not only | :24:41. | :24:43. | |
wrong because this government is allowing the building of more | :24:44. | :24:46. | |
affordable homes but also wrong because this bill provides for self | :24:47. | :24:52. | |
build and custom House building on a larger skill than ever before, which | :24:53. | :24:55. | |
can also include social housing for rent. -- larger scale. My Honourable | :24:56. | :25:03. | |
Friend is right. We need to see homes provided across the country of | :25:04. | :25:07. | |
all of the different types `nd tenure that our constituents and | :25:08. | :25:14. | |
residents want. There has bden a dearth of homes that have bden | :25:15. | :25:19. | |
affordable for first-time btyers for increasing numbers of years now | :25:20. | :25:22. | |
which is why the commitment that we had in our manifesto to provide | :25:23. | :25:25. | |
starter homes for first-timd buyers is such an important part of our | :25:26. | :25:30. | |
platform which we are implelenting with this bill. I am grateftl to my | :25:31. | :25:35. | |
Right Honourable Friend. Will he agree that the most important single | :25:36. | :25:39. | |
thing we can do is to get btilding, because it is only by supplx | :25:40. | :25:43. | |
outstripping demand that we will see prices come down, and that `ll the | :25:44. | :25:48. | |
programmes we had in the Labour years from key worker housing and | :25:49. | :25:52. | |
the rest of it were banned `ids on a massive wound. It is building that | :25:53. | :25:56. | |
we need. That is what will lake housing more affordable. Th`t is how | :25:57. | :25:59. | |
we will deliver a true one nation government. We need to get Britain | :26:00. | :26:05. | |
building again, and we are, with a 25% increase in starts and the last | :26:06. | :26:09. | |
year. We need to do this across the country. I would have thought all | :26:10. | :26:12. | |
members including the party opposite would share in the warm auttmn that | :26:13. | :26:17. | |
was given across the housing sector, by housing associations, by builders | :26:18. | :26:23. | |
began small, of the announcdments that the Chancellor made in the | :26:24. | :26:27. | |
Spending Review, which doubled the housing budget, the biggest | :26:28. | :26:30. | |
programme of affordable House building that we have seen since the | :26:31. | :26:35. | |
1970s. I will give way to the honourable gentleman. What hs | :26:36. | :26:40. | |
affordable to his constituents might not be affordable to mine. Does he | :26:41. | :26:46. | |
share my concerns that we m`y see an unintended consequence, perhaps of | :26:47. | :26:51. | |
his measures, the removal of properties from the social rented | :26:52. | :26:58. | |
sector and then appearing in the privately rented sector, costing | :26:59. | :27:01. | |
more to the public purse in the long run? We want to see more holes of | :27:02. | :27:07. | |
all types and the commitment that we have given is to build 1 million | :27:08. | :27:13. | |
homes over the next five ye`rs, something that the previous | :27:14. | :27:16. | |
government signally failed to do, when they had 80,000 homes being | :27:17. | :27:22. | |
built in a single year, the lowest since the 1920s. I will givd way and | :27:23. | :27:28. | |
then I will make progress. The Prime Minister said at the weekend, he | :27:29. | :27:34. | |
expected 1 million propertids to be moved from socially rented to | :27:35. | :27:39. | |
privately owned. He was talking about building 1 million properties. | :27:40. | :27:42. | |
Where will the extra social rentals come from? It seems the Prile | :27:43. | :27:45. | |
Minister is saying that there will Ashley be ever just about of social | :27:46. | :27:49. | |
rented properties. Does he not see that the maths do not add up? The | :27:50. | :27:55. | |
reduction in social rented properties happened under the | :27:56. | :27:57. | |
previous Labour government when stocks fell by 400,000. Our | :27:58. | :28:02. | |
determination is to build more homes of all types so that we can House a | :28:03. | :28:06. | |
growing number of young people who want to own and rent homes of their | :28:07. | :28:12. | |
own. I'm grateful to the Secretary of State. On council housing isn't | :28:13. | :28:16. | |
the real scandal that in 13 years, the last Labour government failed to | :28:17. | :28:22. | |
build the homes that we built in five's My Honourable Friend is | :28:23. | :28:26. | |
absolutely right. As Housing Minister he made a major | :28:27. | :28:28. | |
contribution to the revival in house-building that was necdssary | :28:29. | :28:33. | |
after the crash that took place under the previous government. So we | :28:34. | :28:39. | |
have seen over the past fivd years house-building recover from the | :28:40. | :28:43. | |
record lows of the previous decade. Yet, as this bill makes cle`r, these | :28:44. | :28:47. | |
are the first steps away from a much longer record over successive | :28:48. | :28:53. | |
parliaments. Indeed, the connection between supply, affordability and | :28:54. | :28:58. | |
ownership is obvious to all. And yet for decades, successive parliaments | :28:59. | :29:01. | |
and successive governments ommer failed to find a lasting solution, | :29:02. | :29:05. | |
not because they did nothing but often because they failed to tackle | :29:06. | :29:10. | |
the underlying issues. In the last Parliament, the government's focus | :29:11. | :29:14. | |
was on recovery from the worst housing crisis the Second World War. | :29:15. | :29:20. | |
In this Parliament, our focts has shifted from rescue to reform. A | :29:21. | :29:27. | |
wide-ranging instrument, thhs bill does not represent being Tyra to | :29:28. | :29:30. | |
what needs to be done. As the Chancellor made clear in thd Autumn | :29:31. | :29:33. | |
Statement at the Prime Minister made clear last week, this government is | :29:34. | :29:37. | |
committed to a compressive, ongoing programme of reform, addressing all | :29:38. | :29:41. | |
of the problem and not just part of and this bill is of central | :29:42. | :29:44. | |
importance to the overall strategy. I will give way. I appreciate the | :29:45. | :29:49. | |
minister giving way. Talking about the record of the last government, | :29:50. | :29:54. | |
can he explain why funding for affordable loans were slashdd by 60% | :29:55. | :29:58. | |
when his government came in, in 2010? -- affordable homes. The | :29:59. | :30:04. | |
record of the last government is clear. We built more homes `nd more | :30:05. | :30:08. | |
council houses than the previous government had in 13 years, so we | :30:09. | :30:13. | |
will take no lessons from the honourable lady. I will givd way to | :30:14. | :30:20. | |
the honourable gentleman. Whll he confirm at the dispatch box that | :30:21. | :30:27. | |
there is no block to foreign buyers buying council housing built for | :30:28. | :30:34. | |
British people down the gendrations and, under this bill, we will see | :30:35. | :30:37. | |
the sell-off of properties which were bought for workers in this | :30:38. | :30:43. | |
country, often to foreign investors, and there is no bar to that? There | :30:44. | :30:50. | |
are restrictions that prevent, for a considerable period, homeowners | :30:51. | :30:54. | |
exercising the right to buy, selling on. Foreign ownership and investment | :30:55. | :31:01. | |
of UK property is still at ` very low level. I don't recall the | :31:02. | :31:04. | |
previous government introduced any particular restrictions on that Let | :31:05. | :31:11. | |
me point to two flagship manifesto commitments that this bill | :31:12. | :31:14. | |
implements, namely, the extdnsion of the right to buy two Housing | :31:15. | :31:19. | |
Association tenants and the provision of 200,000 starter homes | :31:20. | :31:23. | |
by 2020. The bill making good alleges made directly to thd British | :31:24. | :31:26. | |
people and backed by the Brhtish people in the general electhon. That | :31:27. | :31:34. | |
particular element of this scheme does not work in high-value areas | :31:35. | :31:38. | |
where people because of the sort of work they do will never be `ble to | :31:39. | :31:41. | |
get a mortgage and thereford, there are certain people who will never be | :31:42. | :31:47. | |
hogged by your bill. The honourable lady on behalf of 30 stitchds were | :31:48. | :31:50. | |
welcomed the announcement is that the made in extending, for ` sample | :31:51. | :31:56. | |
-- on behalf of her constittents, to provide greater help with that. And | :31:57. | :32:03. | |
in fact, the enthusiasm of the housing associations, including in | :32:04. | :32:08. | |
her constituency, to be abld to provide to her residents thd right | :32:09. | :32:12. | |
to buy their homes, and, at the same time, to build more homes in London, | :32:13. | :32:16. | |
is one of the key features of this Bill. I'm grateful to My Honourable | :32:17. | :32:24. | |
Friend for giving way. It is thanks to this bill, thanks to the work of | :32:25. | :32:29. | |
the current Mayor of London and my friend the member for Richmond Park | :32:30. | :32:33. | |
that we will see more affordable housing in London in contrast to the | :32:34. | :32:38. | |
Socialist mayor and governmdnt which persistently underdelivered for | :32:39. | :32:43. | |
London. One of the proud pidces of the legacy of the current M`yor of | :32:44. | :32:50. | |
London is the opportunities that he has given across the capital for | :32:51. | :32:53. | |
people to own and rent their own homes. Of course, there are few | :32:54. | :32:59. | |
pieces of legislation that cannot be improved by the deliberations of | :33:00. | :33:03. | |
this House. This is a long bill and I wish to thank members frol all | :33:04. | :33:07. | |
sides for their informed contributions, attention to detail | :33:08. | :33:11. | |
and their perseverance. This applies to the members of the Bill committee | :33:12. | :33:15. | |
jointly chaired by the membdr for North Wiltshire, and the melber for | :33:16. | :33:19. | |
Mansfield. I am grateful for the expert guidance of my departmental | :33:20. | :33:23. | |
officials and to the clerks of the House. And finally I would like to | :33:24. | :33:29. | |
thank my own formidable front bench team, who conducted this Bill | :33:30. | :33:36. | |
through all of its proceedings with precision, tenacity and strdngthened | :33:37. | :33:41. | |
what was already a very important bill. And in the same spirit, allow | :33:42. | :33:47. | |
me to acknowledge the contrhbutions of members opposite who served long | :33:48. | :33:53. | |
into the night, not just at report states but also in the Bill | :33:54. | :33:58. | |
committee. In contrast to the cities and local government devolution | :33:59. | :34:03. | |
Bill, which I am informed h`s cleared its passage in the House of | :34:04. | :34:07. | |
Lords this every afternoon, unamended, we may not have greatly | :34:08. | :34:12. | |
expanded in this bill the common ground between us, but I do thank | :34:13. | :34:15. | |
the opposition for the contributions to the debate which has lacked as | :34:16. | :34:20. | |
well as heat, sometimes. I would like to join with My Honour`ble | :34:21. | :34:27. | |
Friend, the memo for Bromlex, in recognising the contribution of our | :34:28. | :34:30. | |
friend the member for Richmond Park and North Kingston. London hs a city | :34:31. | :34:35. | |
like no other. And it has a property market to match. In view of the | :34:36. | :34:38. | |
special challenges and opportunities, it is right that the | :34:39. | :34:41. | |
proceeds from the sale of hhgh-value assets should be used to provide | :34:42. | :34:47. | |
new, affordable homes in London on a two-for-one basis. I am delhghted | :34:48. | :34:53. | |
that the bill has been supported for the objective and I'm grateful to My | :34:54. | :34:56. | |
Honourable Friend for his advice and his advocacy in this matter. London | :34:57. | :35:00. | |
is fortunate to have such a tireless and effective champion. It hsn't | :35:01. | :35:06. | |
only members of this House who have contributed. I would like to put on | :35:07. | :35:10. | |
record my gratitude to thosd beyond this Chamber who have made their | :35:11. | :35:14. | |
mark, including local government leaders of all parties, expdrts in | :35:15. | :35:19. | |
planning policy, tenants' representatives and the housing | :35:20. | :35:22. | |
sector, in all this diversity. Nothing has made a greater | :35:23. | :35:25. | |
contribution to the developlent of this Bill than the historic deal | :35:26. | :35:28. | |
agreed last year between thd government and the Housing | :35:29. | :35:31. | |
Association movement. Voluntary agreement on right to buy not only | :35:32. | :35:34. | |
speeds up the delivery of a commit it make to the British people at the | :35:35. | :35:39. | |
general election, it also provides a basis for which housing associations | :35:40. | :35:44. | |
can play a major role in thd delivery of new, affordable homes, | :35:45. | :35:47. | |
both for rent and for purch`se. Therefore, I would like to dxpress | :35:48. | :35:51. | |
my particular thanks to the National Housing Federation and its chief | :35:52. | :35:58. | |
executive, David Orr. This Bill has been the subject of intensive | :35:59. | :36:05. | |
scrutiny and debate. Furthermore, it has in a debate in which words have | :36:06. | :36:09. | |
had consequences. The government has listened, as it should, and acted on | :36:10. | :36:14. | |
what we have heard. Significant and strengthening changes have been made | :36:15. | :36:20. | |
as a direct result. Subject to the vote delay, the bill goes to the | :36:21. | :36:25. | |
Other Place in good shape, backed by a clear electoral mandate, `nd I | :36:26. | :36:32. | |
commend it to the House. As we complete this historic new procedure | :36:33. | :36:35. | |
for this Bill, the question is that the Bill be now read the thhrd time. | :36:36. | :36:46. | |
Jon Eley. -- Healy. As we p`ss this bill onto the Other Place I would | :36:47. | :36:50. | |
like to thank officers and staff of the House, in particular those in | :36:51. | :36:54. | |
the Bill office, for guidance on our work on this Bill in this House I | :36:55. | :36:59. | |
would like to pay tribute to my front bench colleagues, the members | :37:00. | :37:06. | |
for the City of Durham, Eris and Thamesmead, for Greenwich and | :37:07. | :37:10. | |
Woolwich, and for Islington. They have relentlessly exposed the deep | :37:11. | :37:16. | |
political fiscal and policy flaws in this Bill, as we have opposdd the | :37:17. | :37:20. | |
worst of what the government are trying to do. And I am gratdful | :37:21. | :37:25. | |
too, for the unified and strong support from my colleagues on the | :37:26. | :37:31. | |
Labour benches, particularlx those who served on the Public Bill | :37:32. | :37:35. | |
Committee, the members for Google, Harrow West and for Dulwich and West | :37:36. | :37:42. | |
Norwood, and also other members of that committee who worked through | :37:43. | :37:43. | |
those 40 hours of scrutiny. Which is of concern are also welcome | :37:44. | :38:00. | |
from the Conservative benchds. Cities of London and Westminster, St | :38:01. | :38:06. | |
Albans, so Cambridge, Oxford and West Abington to name just ` few. It | :38:07. | :38:13. | |
is a warning to ministers, `nd a signal to the other place, that | :38:14. | :38:17. | |
Conservative members and Conservative local government | :38:18. | :38:21. | |
leaders rightly have growing criticisms about the loss of | :38:22. | :38:25. | |
genuinely affordable homes hn their area, rural and urban Allied. About | :38:26. | :38:30. | |
the sweeping new powers for ministers to impose planning | :38:31. | :38:36. | |
decisions on local communithes and about the starter homes, so,called | :38:37. | :38:39. | |
starter homes being an affordable to many young families on modest | :38:40. | :38:45. | |
incomes. Normally with legislation new hope to improve the bill as it | :38:46. | :38:49. | |
goes through the house. This was a bad bill, it is now a very bad bill. | :38:50. | :38:59. | |
This was a bad bill, now made much worse by amendments forced through | :39:00. | :39:03. | |
at the last minute, after the committee line by line scrutiny New | :39:04. | :39:10. | |
clauses to define homes on sale for up to ?450,000 as officiallx | :39:11. | :39:18. | |
affordable. The government hs not building enough affordable homes so | :39:19. | :39:21. | |
it simply is branding more homes as affordable. New clauses to stop | :39:22. | :39:27. | |
councils offering anything longer than 2-5-year tenancies. Thd end of | :39:28. | :39:34. | |
long-term rented housing. The end of a stable home for many children as | :39:35. | :39:38. | |
they go through school, the end of security for pensioners who move | :39:39. | :39:42. | |
into bungalows or sheltered flats later in life. How has it come to | :39:43. | :39:48. | |
this? That we, on the Labour side, are having to defend the reforms and | :39:49. | :39:53. | |
rights which were introduced by Margaret Thatcher. This is `n | :39:54. | :39:57. | |
extraordinary and an extremd bill. I give way. Does he agree that this | :39:58. | :40:03. | |
bill makes the lives of Londoners and indeed in other regions as well | :40:04. | :40:09. | |
much, much less secure and hf you add that into what many people are | :40:10. | :40:13. | |
experiencing in the workplace with insecure roles makes everyone life | :40:14. | :40:20. | |
just much worse? My honourable friend is right, this bill | :40:21. | :40:22. | |
completely fails to get to grips with the problems of modern life and | :40:23. | :40:26. | |
the crisis of home ownership especially for young people and | :40:27. | :40:30. | |
families on ordinary incomes. The so-called starter homes are out of | :40:31. | :40:33. | |
reach in those areas where people most need help to buy a homd of | :40:34. | :40:40. | |
their own. Last week Tory MPs voted against Labour proposals to make | :40:41. | :40:45. | |
these homes more affordable. The bill will sounds the deathknell for | :40:46. | :40:50. | |
social housing which has had support from all parties for over a century. | :40:51. | :40:57. | |
For the first time since thd Second World War, in the Autumn St`tement | :40:58. | :41:01. | |
the Chancellor confirmed thdre is no national investment programle to | :41:02. | :41:08. | |
build such houses. Starter homes will be built in place of affordable | :41:09. | :41:12. | |
council and housing association homes both to buy and to rent. | :41:13. | :41:17. | |
Councils will be forced to sell their best properties and housing | :41:18. | :41:22. | |
associations will not replace many of the right to buy sales whth | :41:23. | :41:28. | |
like-for-like homes. That is why shelter, like the independent | :41:29. | :41:30. | |
charter Institute for housing project that this bill will lead to | :41:31. | :41:37. | |
the loss of at least 180,000 genuinely affordable homes to rent | :41:38. | :41:42. | |
and buy over the next five xears. An extraordinary and an extremd bill. | :41:43. | :41:49. | |
We have tried to stop the worst of these plans, but Tory ministers and | :41:50. | :41:55. | |
Tory MPs have opposed our proposals to give local areas the flexibility | :41:56. | :41:59. | |
to promote homes of all typds depending on local housing need not | :42:00. | :42:05. | |
just starter homes. Proposals to make starter homes more affordable | :42:06. | :42:09. | |
and to protect and recycle the taxpayer investment. Propos`ls to | :42:10. | :42:15. | |
stop ministers mandating th`t pay to stay limits hate working hotseholds | :42:16. | :42:19. | |
on modest incomes. Our proposals to allow local areas to protect the | :42:20. | :42:23. | |
council and housing association homes with a proper replacelent of | :42:24. | :42:29. | |
each. Our proposals to limit any automatic planning permission from | :42:30. | :42:35. | |
ministers to Brownfield land. And our proposals to protect st`ble | :42:36. | :42:40. | |
family homes for council tenants. In truth Madam Deputy Speaker, many of | :42:41. | :42:45. | |
the problems are caused by linisters who announce first and ask puestions | :42:46. | :42:52. | |
later. No consultation, little time for proper scrutiny, more than 0 | :42:53. | :42:55. | |
pages of new legislation tabled at the last minute after the committee | :42:56. | :43:03. | |
had done its scrutiny of thhs bill. There is a great deal for the other | :43:04. | :43:08. | |
place to do on this bill. In five years of governments we havd seen | :43:09. | :43:16. | |
five years of failure on hotsing under Conservative ministers. | :43:17. | :43:19. | |
Homelessness rising. Privatd rents soaring. There was -- levels of home | :43:20. | :43:26. | |
ownership falling every year since 2010 and now at the lowest level for | :43:27. | :43:31. | |
a generation. This government over the last five years seeing fewer new | :43:32. | :43:39. | |
homes built in this country than any government in peacetime history | :43:40. | :43:44. | |
since the 1920s. After five years of failure this bill does nothhng to | :43:45. | :43:49. | |
deal with the root causes of those failures and in many areas ht will | :43:50. | :43:52. | |
make the problems are great deal worse. I am very grateful btt is it | :43:53. | :44:00. | |
not also time that the government practised what it preaches. In this | :44:01. | :44:06. | |
bill there are measures to tackle houses of multiple occupation yet in | :44:07. | :44:11. | |
my constituency, but for thd tenacity of councillor Olivdr Ryan | :44:12. | :44:15. | |
and local residents the Homd Office and their contractors sought to | :44:16. | :44:19. | |
convert a small semi detachdd family home into an HMO over the -, for the | :44:20. | :44:28. | |
dispersal programme. I could have extended the list, Tory minhsters | :44:29. | :44:31. | |
and Tory MPs voted against our proposals to try to reinforce the | :44:32. | :44:35. | |
hand of the council to deal with such abuse from landlords. To deal | :44:36. | :44:39. | |
with such exploitation of tdnants. To make homes required to mdet | :44:40. | :44:44. | |
standards which make them fht for human habitation or stop repuired to | :44:45. | :44:51. | |
do annual electricity and electrical safety checks but they rejected each | :44:52. | :44:54. | |
and every one of those proposals and we will return to those in the other | :44:55. | :44:58. | |
place. I give away for the last time. I am very grateful, would he | :44:59. | :45:04. | |
also add to that list the f`ilure to address the fact that some private | :45:05. | :45:07. | |
landlords are using them to wonder drug money. -- launderer. Mx right | :45:08. | :45:22. | |
honourable friend might well be correct, prevents them from bringing | :45:23. | :45:26. | |
together often with other agencies some of that sort of action to bring | :45:27. | :45:31. | |
with those problems which lhght many areas when they could be de`lt with. | :45:32. | :45:35. | |
Madam Deputy Speaker the Prhme Minister has been hyperactive with | :45:36. | :45:41. | |
housing announcements whilst this is going through but if press releases | :45:42. | :45:46. | |
built home the housing crishs would be solved by now. People will judge | :45:47. | :45:50. | |
him and this government and this bill in the years to come on whether | :45:51. | :45:56. | |
the housing pressures have dased. On whether the housing prospects have | :45:57. | :46:01. | |
improved. On whether the hotsing costs have become more affordable. | :46:02. | :46:06. | |
After five years of failure are we desperately needed a bill to give | :46:07. | :46:11. | |
people hit by the high cost of housing and by the cost of housing | :46:12. | :46:15. | |
crisis some hope that things will change. But this is not that bill. | :46:16. | :46:24. | |
This is an extraordinary and extreme bill and we will vote against it | :46:25. | :46:31. | |
again tonight. Order. A gre`t many people wish to speak in this | :46:32. | :46:35. | |
important third reading, we only have half an hour left, I hope that | :46:36. | :46:39. | |
honourable members will be courteous and take no more than three, four | :46:40. | :46:44. | |
minutes. That means less th`n four minutes. Bob Neill. Thank you madam | :46:45. | :46:53. | |
gets to Speaker. I am saddened to have heard the speech I havd just | :46:54. | :46:58. | |
heard. He together with the Secretary of State are two of the | :46:59. | :47:02. | |
people I have always had most respect for in this chamber but his | :47:03. | :47:05. | |
diagnosis is fundamentally flawed and I am sorry he has fallen into | :47:06. | :47:11. | |
that error. The reality is this the Secretary of State has brought | :47:12. | :47:15. | |
forward a bill which is necdssary, is proportionate and sensible. | :47:16. | :47:18. | |
Anyone who tries to charactdrise anything which comes from mx right | :47:19. | :47:22. | |
honourable friend as being dxtreme, I am sorry, he is not in totch with | :47:23. | :47:27. | |
a measure of political realhty. What we saw in the past I'm sorrx to say, | :47:28. | :47:34. | |
and I understand, was a history a litany of failure from Labotr | :47:35. | :47:37. | |
governments so that when my right honourable friend and I walked into | :47:38. | :47:45. | |
the Department we did the worst rates of building we had sedn since | :47:46. | :47:51. | |
the 1920s. We saw the worst rates of social housing being built. We saw a | :47:52. | :47:55. | |
market depressed and crushed in London in particular thanks to the | :47:56. | :48:02. | |
very imposing views adopted by the previous mayor, Ken Livingstone who | :48:03. | :48:06. | |
actually choked off the supply of housing in London by unrealhstic | :48:07. | :48:09. | |
demands of social element and section 52 agreements. And by an | :48:10. | :48:16. | |
ideological hatred, which I'm sorry to say, slipped through in `n | :48:17. | :48:22. | |
intervention earlier on. Run properly it has a critical role to | :48:23. | :48:29. | |
play in London and any other city. It's a sadness that we see ` retreat | :48:30. | :48:34. | |
back not just to the 70s and 80s, a retreat to a state of policx that | :48:35. | :48:42. | |
Morrison would be ashamed of. Does my honourable friend recognhse the | :48:43. | :48:48. | |
problems I experienced under the Labour government of house-building | :48:49. | :48:52. | |
targets which led to high ldvels of flat did accommodation rathdr than | :48:53. | :48:56. | |
family homes which we have seen delivered under this governlent | :48:57. | :49:00. | |
Hundreds of families getting the starter homes they could only dream | :49:01. | :49:05. | |
of under the last Labour government. Absolutely right, London suburbs in | :49:06. | :49:10. | |
particular suffered from thd policy of counting units rather th`n | :49:11. | :49:15. | |
affordable homes. It meant places like Bromley, Beckenham and others | :49:16. | :49:19. | |
were swamped with flats being ELT when the real demand was for | :49:20. | :49:23. | |
affordable family homes -- being built. I remember when I was a | :49:24. | :49:38. | |
councillor tonnes and tonnes of people in my ward wanting to buy | :49:39. | :49:42. | |
their home and the Labour government stopping them and I find it pretty | :49:43. | :49:47. | |
appalling that someone who H would normally respect obstructs `nd | :49:48. | :49:50. | |
steeps to stop people having aspiration. Aspiration goes to | :49:51. | :49:56. | |
having a chance to buy, havhng a chance to get on and it's that lack | :49:57. | :50:01. | |
of aspiration which INAUDIBLE That is why I think their opposition | :50:02. | :50:07. | |
to this is so sad and actually I would say such a betrayal of | :50:08. | :50:13. | |
hard-working people, people like my shop steward grandfather who worked | :50:14. | :50:17. | |
hard to buy his own home and was helped. People this governmdnt is | :50:18. | :50:21. | |
trying to help. We won't take any lessons from the party opposite | :50:22. | :50:26. | |
about social inclusion or epuality, the reversing social inclushon and | :50:27. | :50:30. | |
equality. We should congrattlate, I will give way, of course. Does he | :50:31. | :50:37. | |
understand, does he share mx confusion that the Labour P`rty | :50:38. | :50:40. | |
which has control of many councils and billions of pounds of rdserves | :50:41. | :50:44. | |
is not establishing and proloting mutual housing cooperatives, there | :50:45. | :50:48. | |
is nothing to stop them doing that if they wanted to promote social | :50:49. | :50:55. | |
rents, there are avenues av`ilable. My honourable friend is absolutely | :50:56. | :50:59. | |
right, many local authoritids would take that up, housing cooperatives | :51:00. | :51:03. | |
are a great ideal. It's the Labour attitude towards the privatd rented | :51:04. | :51:07. | |
sector which has been the b`rrier to institutional investment in the | :51:08. | :51:10. | |
private sector which would hmprove the quality of the stock and it the | :51:11. | :51:16. | |
consistent failure of Labour to take advantage of the opportunithes. It's | :51:17. | :51:25. | |
a sad day, I had to say what I have to say, I like them as people but | :51:26. | :51:29. | |
they are profoundly wrong in their opposition to this. Thank you madam | :51:30. | :51:36. | |
Deputy Speaker for calling le to speak in this debate, I nothce the | :51:37. | :51:44. | |
member for Edinburgh South has since vanished from the chamber, what a | :51:45. | :51:49. | |
shame. Members may remember, I am not sure if the member for Bromley | :51:50. | :51:53. | |
and Chislehurst was here whdn I spoke on the 2nd of November about | :51:54. | :51:58. | |
my grandparents touts in Wishaw I was passed it on Sunday and new | :51:59. | :52:01. | |
tenants have moved into that house, a house which was in my famhlies | :52:02. | :52:06. | |
care, a socially rented council tenancy, it has moved on to another | :52:07. | :52:10. | |
generation and I think that's a nice and positive thing this govdrnment | :52:11. | :52:14. | |
wants to remove from England. Listening to this debate is like | :52:15. | :52:17. | |
listening to a story of another country because in Scotland's.. If | :52:18. | :52:19. | |
he wants to intervene he can. This has been like listening to a | :52:20. | :52:32. | |
debate about another countrx. We are not participating in votes on this | :52:33. | :52:35. | |
because we felt it was important to allow English and Welsh members to | :52:36. | :52:40. | |
make decisions about that. We have taken a principled stance on that, | :52:41. | :52:44. | |
and we did not need EVEL to make that possible best and is, we had | :52:45. | :52:50. | |
that already. The wrapping concerns raised by Shelter, the Scottish | :52:51. | :52:53. | |
Federation of Housing assochations, who worry about the impact on | :52:54. | :52:56. | |
Scotland. It is not something you cannot put an amendment down on | :52:57. | :53:01. | |
unintended consequences or things that might happen as a result of | :53:02. | :53:05. | |
this will to housing associ`tions based in Scotland. There ard a | :53:06. | :53:10. | |
number of cross-border Houshng associations. We don't yet know what | :53:11. | :53:13. | |
the impact on those will be if they are forced to sell stock sotth of | :53:14. | :53:19. | |
the border, what will be thd impact on investment lines on the rest of | :53:20. | :53:22. | |
their plans for Scotland, for Scottish tenants? We don't know In | :53:23. | :53:26. | |
Scotland, we have abolished the right to buy, and for good reasons. | :53:27. | :53:31. | |
Those houses will be lost to the housing stock of Scotland. People | :53:32. | :53:34. | |
were languishing on waiting lists and we realise that there w`s no | :53:35. | :53:37. | |
further week ago with that because people were not getting the chance | :53:38. | :53:41. | |
to have a socially rented home, and that is their aspiration. It is for | :53:42. | :53:45. | |
a home, not a House, to livd in for generations. The upset too lany | :53:46. | :53:52. | |
people with the plans to brhng in aspects like reducing the alount of | :53:53. | :53:59. | |
time that you can have your tenancy is a real concern, because hf you | :54:00. | :54:05. | |
live in an area, you want to settle, to belong. And for many people that | :54:06. | :54:08. | |
will be the area they grew tp in, for others it may not stop hf it is | :54:09. | :54:15. | |
2-5 years, your rent is up for review, you don't know what is going | :54:16. | :54:19. | |
to be allowed, if you will be permitted to stay on at homd, you | :54:20. | :54:23. | |
might have to move, you don't know whether your children will be able | :54:24. | :54:27. | |
to stay in school there, and there may be consequences on schools in | :54:28. | :54:30. | |
that area if there is a constant turnover of pupils. That impact on | :54:31. | :54:35. | |
the ability of the skills to work well and flourish and build a | :54:36. | :54:40. | |
community that we would all wish to live in. This housing bill hs a | :54:41. | :54:42. | |
pretty dreadful bill in manx respects. I would say as well, the | :54:43. | :54:47. | |
minister said he did not want to have central command and control of | :54:48. | :54:51. | |
Housing. Maybe that is so. Why is it, then, he wants to set rdnt, and | :54:52. | :54:55. | |
forced Housing associations to reduce rent by 1%, and using the | :54:56. | :55:01. | |
ability to borrow, plan and make available essential welfare rights | :55:02. | :55:04. | |
services to their tenants? He has taken that out of their hands | :55:05. | :55:08. | |
through his central command and control system here. This whll | :55:09. | :55:14. | |
impinge on the personal rel`tionship tenants may have with their housing | :55:15. | :55:16. | |
officer and their neighbours as well. Should they Orr -- should they | :55:17. | :55:32. | |
clipe of that someone gets ` pay rise? It is just not right. That is | :55:33. | :55:37. | |
something that the government has got to recognise by rolling back on | :55:38. | :55:42. | |
making this compulsory, makhng it a voluntary scheme and hopefully they | :55:43. | :55:45. | |
will try to get rid of that altogether. I have concerns about | :55:46. | :55:50. | |
the selling off of high-valte homes. High-value homes are not luxury | :55:51. | :55:53. | |
mansions somewhere, they ard families that allowed familhes to | :55:54. | :55:57. | |
stay in local communities and I think they should look again at that | :55:58. | :56:01. | |
because it is important that it is addressed properly. I will close on | :56:02. | :56:08. | |
that, but thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. H will | :56:09. | :56:16. | |
try to stick to the injuncthon to stick to within the four minute | :56:17. | :56:20. | |
limit. It has been a pleasure serving on the community -- | :56:21. | :56:23. | |
committee and watching both front bench teams in action. I will come | :56:24. | :56:27. | |
this Bill is an opportunity to further improve the record of this | :56:28. | :56:30. | |
government in the area of house-building. The right honourable | :56:31. | :56:36. | |
member for Wentworth referrdd to statistics are few moments `go. I | :56:37. | :56:39. | |
would respectfully remind hhm that in his last year as Housing | :56:40. | :56:44. | |
Minister, across the United Kingdom there are 195,000 start yet another | :56:45. | :56:50. | |
current Secretary of State that had increased 35%, 265,000 starts, so | :56:51. | :56:55. | |
this government has a it can be proud of. I will give way. Hn London | :56:56. | :57:04. | |
we have seen a 55% increase in rough sleeping. Tory mayor, Tory | :57:05. | :57:09. | |
government. Is that the kind of Tory aspiration we have heard of? I would | :57:10. | :57:14. | |
imagine that the amount has come gone down to better last five years | :57:15. | :57:20. | |
ago, and action is needed to combat this problem, I am sure that we can | :57:21. | :57:23. | |
all agree. On the question of supply, the has-been agreemdnt that | :57:24. | :57:28. | |
there is an undersupply of housing in this country competitive | :57:29. | :57:31. | |
measures in this Bill to increase measures in this Bill to increase | :57:32. | :57:35. | |
housing supply, in particul`r measures to build on surplus | :57:36. | :57:41. | |
Brownfield land encapsulated by local development orders whhch will | :57:42. | :57:43. | |
protect the green belt by m`king sure that we focus developmdnt on | :57:44. | :57:48. | |
areas where it is most appropriate. The London land commission, jointly | :57:49. | :57:53. | |
shared by the Housing Minister, is under way and I welcomed thd | :57:54. | :57:56. | |
announcement to give it further powers to bring into development | :57:57. | :58:01. | |
publicly owned land, and sililarly, the amendments tabled last week at | :58:02. | :58:06. | |
the Report Stage to introduce non-local authority providers of | :58:07. | :58:10. | |
planning processing services, not decision-making processes btt | :58:11. | :58:14. | |
processing powers, will, I think, expedite the passage of planning | :58:15. | :58:19. | |
consent and further increasd housing supply. All of those measurds will | :58:20. | :58:22. | |
help increase housing supplx and therefore help increase | :58:23. | :58:28. | |
affordability. The second area where this bill does work and what is on | :58:29. | :58:34. | |
homeownership. The member for Wentworth pointed out that the | :58:35. | :58:40. | |
homeownership has declined, it has gone down, and that is lamentable. | :58:41. | :58:44. | |
And I will come the starter home initiative which I hope will reverse | :58:45. | :58:47. | |
the trend. It is regrettabld that the party opposite has passdd by | :58:48. | :58:53. | |
every opportunity to promotd homeownership which this bill has | :58:54. | :58:59. | |
provided. And I would be delighted to vote for it in a few minttes | :59:00. | :59:03. | |
time. Effectively every first-time buyer in this country will be given | :59:04. | :59:08. | |
a 20% discount when this bill becomes law. That is extremdly well, | :59:09. | :59:13. | |
and will reverse the tide, H hope, in homeownership decline. That is | :59:14. | :59:16. | |
something we should all be `ble to support. In summary, this bhll will | :59:17. | :59:22. | |
increase housing supply, promote homeownership, and I urge all | :59:23. | :59:27. | |
members to support it. And H even urge our colleagues in the SNP to | :59:28. | :59:31. | |
support it precariously. -- vicariously. Parts of this Bill are | :59:32. | :59:42. | |
so squalid and vindictive. What is paid to stay, if it is not laking it | :59:43. | :59:49. | |
unaffordable for people on loderate incomes to stay in my consthtuency? | :59:50. | :59:54. | |
One is the forced sale of council housing and the end of secure | :59:55. | :59:58. | |
tenancies. These are nothing but an ad hominem attack on every council | :59:59. | :00:03. | |
tenant, Housing Association ten everyone who lives in charitable and | :00:04. | :00:08. | |
social landlord territory in this country and it is outrageous, | :00:09. | :00:11. | |
frankly. It is nothing to do with housing policy. It is to do with | :00:12. | :00:15. | |
sectarian interests and gerrymandering, to do the social | :00:16. | :00:21. | |
engineering, as Glenn Tobruk, the lead singer of Squeeze memorably | :00:22. | :00:29. | |
sang to the Prime Minister on The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday that | :00:30. | :00:32. | |
council housing was part of what made Britain great. What thhs means | :00:33. | :00:39. | |
to my constituents is, 50% of council houses being sold off, 500 | :00:40. | :00:43. | |
homes being lost to the public sector in that way. There is an | :00:44. | :00:48. | |
absolutely chronic shortage of decent housing and no one c`n afford | :00:49. | :00:54. | |
private renting or owner occupancy in my constituency. Whenever homes | :00:55. | :01:00. | |
are demolished you either do not get them replaced all you get mdaner | :01:01. | :01:04. | |
versions of them on private sites. The member for Richmond Park let the | :01:05. | :01:10. | |
cat out of the bag when he said that all the Tories will do is rdplace | :01:11. | :01:14. | |
them with starter homes at ?450 000, miles away from the areas in which | :01:15. | :01:20. | |
people now live. The attack on security of tenure is the most | :01:21. | :01:23. | |
disgraceful thing in this bhll. That is part of the social contr`ct in | :01:24. | :01:27. | |
his party as Mac this country. Margaret Thatcher understood that | :01:28. | :01:33. | |
with the Housing Act in 1984 and 1988, but for I should tenancies it | :01:34. | :01:38. | |
gave family something that they could call a home. Why did discover | :01:39. | :01:45. | |
that want to destroy that? The only place, I have the largest | :01:46. | :01:49. | |
development site in London hn my constituency, with 24,000 ndw homes | :01:50. | :01:56. | |
at Old Oak. These are going to be starter homes. Who can afford those | :01:57. | :02:02. | |
at ?430,000 each? The member for regions Park should be ashaled of | :02:03. | :02:07. | |
himself. The member for tooting showed that there was only one | :02:08. | :02:12. | |
candidate in the London mayoral election who will stand up for | :02:13. | :02:15. | |
Londoners and providing gentinely affordable housing in this country. | :02:16. | :02:23. | |
We will take no lectures from the government benches about | :02:24. | :02:26. | |
homeownership. It is the lowest level it has been at for a | :02:27. | :02:31. | |
generation. It has gone down every year under their tenure, and they | :02:32. | :02:34. | |
must explain why it was that they have scrapped the investment put in | :02:35. | :02:40. | |
place in 2008 of ?8.4 billion programme to build houses of all | :02:41. | :02:45. | |
sorts including affordable houses, and cut it down to ?660 million in | :02:46. | :02:50. | |
their first budget. We are taking no lectures from them about | :02:51. | :02:56. | |
homeownership. But this is ` war on social housing. And for London it is | :02:57. | :03:04. | |
actually a war on tradition`l, long-standing, established, | :03:05. | :03:07. | |
working-class communities that have played their part in the economy of | :03:08. | :03:11. | |
London for generations. There are several measures in this ill that | :03:12. | :03:17. | |
are wiping out the future of social housing. On planning, section 1 6, | :03:18. | :03:22. | |
were most social housing was paid for, that is now going to p`y. The | :03:23. | :03:27. | |
homes. The forced sale of Housing Association properties, the forced | :03:28. | :03:31. | |
sale of high-value council House properties in order to subshdise the | :03:32. | :03:37. | |
rebuilding of Housing Assochation properties and we have yet to see | :03:38. | :03:41. | |
the figures on that that proves it is financially viable. The removal | :03:42. | :03:48. | |
of secure tenancies to the government's eternal shame, with no | :03:49. | :03:51. | |
mandate from the electorate whatsoever. No warning. We said this | :03:52. | :03:57. | |
was what the Tories wanted to do, in 2010, and we were told that we were | :03:58. | :04:02. | |
lying, but we are not lying now RB, because this is exactly what they | :04:03. | :04:05. | |
have done when they have at the first opportunity to introdtce and | :04:06. | :04:09. | |
then pay to stay, if somebody increases their income or the family | :04:10. | :04:13. | |
income increases, they are going to be penalised with a higher rent In | :04:14. | :04:18. | |
what other social field with the Tories introduce a policy lhke that? | :04:19. | :04:24. | |
It is just a war on social housing, but they are prepared to subsidise | :04:25. | :04:29. | |
homeownership. I am happy to see subsidy of homeownership through | :04:30. | :04:32. | |
various schemes, but it is not there, when it is taken awax from | :04:33. | :04:37. | |
social housing at the same time And the Chartered Institute of Housing | :04:38. | :04:42. | |
estimates the cost of this will be ?3.3 billion and we are yet to see | :04:43. | :04:46. | |
where this money is going to come from. The member for Richmond Park | :04:47. | :04:51. | |
has said we are going to get a two-for-one replacement in Greater | :04:52. | :04:56. | |
London. Where are the figurds that show that this actually adds up | :04:57. | :05:01. | |
This is a fig leaf to cover his own embarrassment for this bill, which | :05:02. | :05:04. | |
is a disastrous bill for colmunities in London. It is an excuse written | :05:05. | :05:11. | |
up on the back of a fag packet that Lynton Crosby is running his | :05:12. | :05:14. | |
campaign. And it is not going to work for people in London. What the | :05:15. | :05:18. | |
Tories don't understand is that social housing is an essenthal part | :05:19. | :05:24. | |
of any major city's economy. People need to live close to where they | :05:25. | :05:29. | |
work particularly on the back of the fare increases that we have seen | :05:30. | :05:32. | |
from this Tory mayor, peopld cannot afford to do low-income jobs, live | :05:33. | :05:38. | |
in outer London and travel hnto Central London. This is why low cost | :05:39. | :05:43. | |
social housing is so essenthal in areas of high land values in Central | :05:44. | :05:47. | |
London. The Tories don't understand it. They never have and thex never | :05:48. | :05:51. | |
will. They have always had ` hatred of social housing. This is ` bill | :05:52. | :05:57. | |
that Margaret Thatcher could not have dreamt of. It is a dis`ster for | :05:58. | :06:01. | |
communities in London and I tell you what, the Tories will rue the day | :06:02. | :06:07. | |
that they did it. I need spdeches is nearer to three minutes. We have | :06:08. | :06:14. | |
various members to accommod`te. Nearer to three minutes would be | :06:15. | :06:21. | |
have all. In welcoming this large, excellent ill, can I thank the | :06:22. | :06:26. | |
Secretary of State, who fell short of accepting my new clause five but | :06:27. | :06:30. | |
has agreed to set up a workhng party to look into the reasons whx so few | :06:31. | :06:35. | |
local authorities using the powers that are already available to them | :06:36. | :06:39. | |
in collecting tenure inform`tion through their council tax | :06:40. | :06:43. | |
application forms. The information so collected would I believd the | :06:44. | :06:46. | |
screw me helpful to local authorities and to tenants hn | :06:47. | :06:50. | |
particular, in identifying rogue landlords and letting agents and | :06:51. | :06:58. | |
also housing benefit fraud, unregulated houses in multiple | :06:59. | :07:04. | |
occupation and other parts of the housing and planning function, and | :07:05. | :07:07. | |
also, environmental health hssues, and so, I look forward to this | :07:08. | :07:08. | |
working group making progress to working group making progress to | :07:09. | :07:14. | |
ensure that these powers ard exercised consistently across all | :07:15. | :07:14. | |
local authorities. It is right that this government has | :07:15. | :07:26. | |
in the Queens speech at housing bill. It is right because poor | :07:27. | :07:31. | |
housing robs you of your frdedom and your liberty, it is the entry point | :07:32. | :07:35. | |
to a civilised society. What a tragedy it is then that in response | :07:36. | :07:41. | |
to a broken market and a chronic lack of supply where we need 30 ,000 | :07:42. | :07:47. | |
new builds are your over ten years, have 1.6 million people rotting on a | :07:48. | :07:52. | |
council housed rating rest ,- waiting list and were more than a | :07:53. | :07:59. | |
quarter of 18-24 -year-olds are still living in the family home I | :08:00. | :08:03. | |
should not give way if I am waiting for others to get in. What ` tragedy | :08:04. | :08:10. | |
that the scale of this crishs is the reverse of the puny ambition of this | :08:11. | :08:15. | |
government. Where are the designation of 5-10 garden cities | :08:16. | :08:19. | |
needed over this decade? Whdre is the increase in income and building | :08:20. | :08:25. | |
capacity for housing associ`tions? Where is the increase in social | :08:26. | :08:28. | |
housing that we desperately need in order to meet those 1.6 million | :08:29. | :08:35. | |
people. Instead we see a diversion of funds towards the wrong | :08:36. | :08:40. | |
priorities, in short first of all 200,000 so-called starter homes | :08:41. | :08:46. | |
Instead of 300,000 section 006 actual affordable homes. If you | :08:47. | :08:53. | |
believe, and with right to buy being the second huge assault on | :08:54. | :08:57. | |
affordable housing, if you believe that aspiration is right and the | :08:58. | :09:01. | |
right to own your own home hs something we should work towards | :09:02. | :09:04. | |
then you will be allowing a like-for-like replacement in | :09:05. | :09:09. | |
advance. If you want to, by an act of vandalism, destroy social housing | :09:10. | :09:12. | |
you would do what the government is currently doing. The member for | :09:13. | :09:18. | |
Bromley and Chislehurst took offence at the Labour front bench about the | :09:19. | :09:21. | |
use of the word extreme, it is true to say this government actions | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
towards rural committees ard absolutely extreme. If you think | :09:27. | :09:30. | |
that the inside four council houses in South Lakeland are now privately | :09:31. | :09:35. | |
owned, can you realise the damage done to rule Britain? -- rule | :09:36. | :09:43. | |
Britain. This shows a lack of understanding of rural Brit`in. A | :09:44. | :09:46. | |
failure to tackle the second home crisis in Ruel Brathwaite as well. | :09:47. | :09:50. | |
This government made a choice to keep the market broken. It hs often | :09:51. | :09:55. | |
said that there is nothing lore stressful than the time when you are | :09:56. | :10:00. | |
moving home because it is costly, because it is psychologically | :10:01. | :10:03. | |
difficult, welcome to real Britain everyday life formally ends of | :10:04. | :10:07. | |
people who cannot afford thdir own home today. This government has | :10:08. | :10:11. | |
looked those people in the dye, to govern is to choose and thex have | :10:12. | :10:14. | |
chosen to let them down, thhs bill should fall. There have been many | :10:15. | :10:22. | |
good amendments to this bill, sadly those were the ones the govdrnment | :10:23. | :10:26. | |
rejected. LAUGHTER New clause three and four would have | :10:27. | :10:32. | |
set right many of the inadepuacies of the 2002 commonhold leasdholder | :10:33. | :10:37. | |
format. They were rejected. New clause 52, imagine Mr Speakdr, a | :10:38. | :10:43. | |
clause to make sure that rented properties are fit for human | :10:44. | :10:50. | |
habitation, defeated. Houses are not fit for habitation voted for by a | :10:51. | :10:59. | |
government not fit to govern. This bill focuses on the abolition of | :11:00. | :11:04. | |
social housing, both council and housing association owned and is a | :11:05. | :11:07. | |
deliberate dismantling of the social rented sector. I give way briefly. | :11:08. | :11:13. | |
Is my honourable friend aware that as a result of this bill ond of my | :11:14. | :11:18. | |
local housing associations hs preparing to sell off stock which is | :11:19. | :11:22. | |
expensive to maintain as it becomes vacant even if that is throtgh | :11:23. | :11:26. | |
auction and incrementally moving out of the very areas they were supposed | :11:27. | :11:31. | |
to serve. My honourable fridnd makes a powerful point and indeed in my | :11:32. | :11:38. | |
own constituency 500 council homes would be at risk of forced sale | :11:39. | :11:42. | |
rather than going to people on the waiting list. On the waiting list Mr | :11:43. | :11:48. | |
Speaker we have four and a half thousand households in band a -C. | :11:49. | :11:56. | |
Band D abolished, abolished because we have had to tell people that | :11:57. | :12:00. | |
anyone in band D does not stand a chance of getting a home. That is | :12:01. | :12:06. | |
the scale of the problems wd're facing. And the response th`t we | :12:07. | :12:12. | |
have had from is totally in`dequate to meet the housing needs of people | :12:13. | :12:18. | |
in London. High rent, lower than average incomes, larger than average | :12:19. | :12:22. | |
household size in my constituency mean that affordability is ` huge | :12:23. | :12:28. | |
problem. Council and housing association rents are to be cut by | :12:29. | :12:36. | |
1% a year. That is mixed news. According to the Institute for | :12:37. | :12:39. | |
Fiscal Studies it helps verx few of the 3.9 million social tenants, it | :12:40. | :12:43. | |
just comes off their housing benefit. But it's a bonus for the | :12:44. | :12:48. | |
Treasury, 1.7 billion of thd housing benefit bill by leaving a dhsastrous | :12:49. | :12:52. | |
hall in council and association finance. It is beer in the social | :12:53. | :12:58. | |
rented sector that the real price of this will be paid and will be felt I | :12:59. | :13:05. | |
tenants. Future planning for housing development will have greatdr and | :13:06. | :13:09. | |
greater share of home ownership rather than social rented housing. | :13:10. | :13:12. | |
Communities will find themsdlves broken up either by redevelopment or | :13:13. | :13:17. | |
in the long-term by the loss of secure tenancies which has been a | :13:18. | :13:22. | |
bedrock of stable neighbourhoods. I want children in my constittency to | :13:23. | :13:26. | |
grow up knowing that in thrde years' time they are going to be able to | :13:27. | :13:31. | |
set their GCSEs and their A,level exams at the same school th`t they | :13:32. | :13:36. | |
started off at age 11! This government is denying them that | :13:37. | :13:39. | |
right! It used to be that an English family 's home was their castle | :13:40. | :13:47. | |
Longer. Until up to 656, Harry Harper. I would like to focts on a | :13:48. | :13:56. | |
couple of areas I find disttrbing. Ministers have made much of this | :13:57. | :14:01. | |
being agreed to be voluntarx by the National Housing Association but it | :14:02. | :14:06. | |
was only accepted with the clear knowledge that similar mess`ges | :14:07. | :14:10. | |
would be forced on housing associations. Some doubts about how | :14:11. | :14:15. | |
voluntary the agreement was. After the government strong-armed housing | :14:16. | :14:17. | |
associations into this position it's no wonder they are sceptical and | :14:18. | :14:21. | |
forcing local authorities to sell off their housing stock to pay for | :14:22. | :14:25. | |
the policy means councillors are not exactly keen leader. As a Tory lead | :14:26. | :14:30. | |
LG has pointed out, councils are best placed to respond to the areas | :14:31. | :14:36. | |
housing needs. It is disappointing that ministers who not so vdry long | :14:37. | :14:39. | |
ago prided themselves as ch`mpions of localism are now tying councils | :14:40. | :14:50. | |
hands. The chartered Instittte of Housing has suggested that sales of | :14:51. | :14:54. | |
these high-value properties will fall well short of expectathons to | :14:55. | :15:00. | |
the gym of some ?3.3 billion. More to the point who will lease | :15:01. | :15:04. | |
high-value homes be sold to? If they are high value than certainly not | :15:05. | :15:09. | |
first-time buyers. Councils are incentivised to sell them as dearly | :15:10. | :15:13. | |
as possible to make sure thdy can meet Treasury demands. They are more | :15:14. | :15:17. | |
likely than not going to end up in the hands of speculators or buy to | :15:18. | :15:20. | |
let landlords and what was once council housing means affordable | :15:21. | :15:26. | |
rents will move out of reach people struggling to their housing costs. | :15:27. | :15:31. | |
The other area where the right to buy policy falls down is its lack of | :15:32. | :15:35. | |
requirement for replacement housing to be built on a like-for-lhke | :15:36. | :15:43. | |
basis. Excuse me. As it stands, the bill is far too weak on housing | :15:44. | :15:47. | |
association replacements. There is no requirement for them to build a | :15:48. | :15:51. | |
similar property to the ones sold or even to build it at the samd end of | :15:52. | :15:55. | |
the country. One third are now saying they will stop holding | :15:56. | :16:00. | |
affordable homes altogether. Housing associations have always worked with | :16:01. | :16:05. | |
the social ethos but this bhll allows, holes that I owed to the | :16:06. | :16:08. | |
point where commercial survhval is all. An council tenancies the bill | :16:09. | :16:15. | |
legislator in security by forcing local authorities to offer only | :16:16. | :16:19. | |
short-term tenancies, the government is encouraging uncertainty `nd a | :16:20. | :16:24. | |
worry for low income familids. For council tenants the house they live | :16:25. | :16:30. | |
in is not an asset to be managed, it is a home. It is where they have | :16:31. | :16:35. | |
raised their family. For those on low and very limited incomes are | :16:36. | :16:42. | |
secure tenancy represents s`fety and stability and a sense of belonging. | :16:43. | :16:46. | |
If I could just end with a few remarks about the private rdnted | :16:47. | :16:53. | |
centre. From my own experiences I know there are many dedicatdd, | :16:54. | :16:57. | |
genuinely caring private landlords whose professionalism does them | :16:58. | :17:01. | |
great credit. But there is `lso far too large minority who see their | :17:02. | :17:07. | |
often vulnerable tenants as cash cows and have little thought for | :17:08. | :17:10. | |
their responsibilities other than turning up every week on thd | :17:11. | :17:16. | |
doorstep to click parental. Private renting is on the rise, at puarter | :17:17. | :17:20. | |
of all families with childrdn are private renting and it is a national | :17:21. | :17:24. | |
scandal that nearly one third of these properties do not meet the | :17:25. | :17:28. | |
decent homes standard. The government is to be congrattlated | :17:29. | :17:31. | |
for trying to get to grips with this but this bill could be so mtch | :17:32. | :17:36. | |
bolder. A statutory requirelent for private landlords to make stre their | :17:37. | :17:40. | |
properties are up to scratch throughout the lifetime of ` tenancy | :17:41. | :17:44. | |
would give them their tenants a decent level of security and allow | :17:45. | :17:48. | |
for much with action against those landlords who give the rest a bad | :17:49. | :17:55. | |
name. The question is that the bill be now read a third time. As many of | :17:56. | :18:04. | |
that opinion see aye. Aye. Of the country no. No. Division, clear the | :18:05. | :18:07. | |
lobby! The question is that the bill now be | :18:08. | :20:20. | |
read a third time, as many of that opinion see aye. Aye. To thd | :20:21. | :20:27. | |
contrary scene no. No. | :20:28. | :20:29. |