Leasehold Reform: Forfeiture Provisions

Debate between Baroness Altmann and Lord Greenhalgh

Monday 20th June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

I thank the noble Lord for some exciting policy ideas. It is important that we recognise that forfeiture is a very lengthy process, and there are ways in which we can cover debt. In fact, where there is an outstanding mortgage, you typically find that mortgage companies step in and pay off any remaining amounts, because they want to protect their financial interest in a property that is worth far more than the debt. But it is an idea that I will take back to the department.

[Baroness Altmann (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register. I support fully the Government’s intentions for urgent leasehold reform; I look forward to seeing the legislation. Does my noble friend agree that it is really important to ensure that landlords are still incentivised to let their properties? With the shortage of housing that we have, it is important to balance the interests of leaseholders and freeholders. There are really important areas of reform, such as have been raised, that need attention for this market to function much better than it does.

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for once again underlining that, when we reform landlord and tenant law, we need get the balance of interests right. As a Government, we have committed to a number of ways in which we try to get that balance right and, indeed, to move away from the idea of having leasehold as the tenure of choice to an era where we have full-throated commonhold, which I hope has the support of many Members of this House.

High-rise Buildings: Evacuation of Disabled Residents

Debate between Baroness Altmann and Lord Greenhalgh

Wednesday 25th May 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

I genuinely understand the concerns and frustrations, but we have come forward with what we believe to be a sensible proposal. This is a genuine consultation with a call for evidence for examples of practical, proportionate and safe PEEPs and other fire safety initiatives. It also includes a working group with responsible persons, residents and disability groups to examine the role that neighbours and friends can play in supporting the evacuation of vulnerable residents. We are listening and it is important that we get a policy position that works.

[Baroness Altmann (Con)]

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend on all the work being done and encourage him and his department to make sure that it is completed as soon as possible. May I ask for an assurance that the needs of frail elderly people, who might not be registered as disabled, are also taken into account, as they might be equally unable to self-evacuate in an emergency?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My noble friend is right that we need to capture those people who may not present themselves as disabled but who clearly have mobility impairments. That is the purpose of the EEIS proposal, which is around ensuring that we can identify those people, that we can organise person-centred fire risk assessments and have home safety visits to come up with measures that do the best to keep them safe. That applies to all mobility-impaired residents.

North of England: Investment

Debate between Baroness Altmann and Lord Greenhalgh

Tuesday 23rd February 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, we recognise the need to unlock private investment, and the government investment is designed to do precisely that, with the £4 billion levelling-up fund; but, equally, we need to devolve decision-making closer to the people in the north of England.

[Baroness Altmann (Con)]

My Lords, I congratulate the Government on their £4 billion programme and support the aims of building back better, a green industrial revolution and attracting global capital. Will my noble friend comment on the possibility of using domestic pension assets, of which there are hundreds of billions of pounds, including in local authority funds, which are currently investing only in gilts with extremely low returns and which could be put to more productive use in such building programmes?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, my noble friend is right that pension assets are an important source of finance for investment in infrastructure. I note that the CPS report proposes updating rules covering UK pension schemes so that we can encourage investment in northern infrastructure.

Building Safety

Debate between Baroness Altmann and Lord Greenhalgh

Monday 22nd February 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

I share the noble Lord’s scepticism about the value of committeeism. I am pleased to announce that the leader of the new building safety regulator, the chief inspector of buildings, has been announced. I am delighted that Peter Baker, the acting chief inspector, has been confirmed as taking up the reins and ensuring that this new regime works. He will be accountable to ensure that that happens.

[Baroness Altmann (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome the gateway 2 developer levy and the new tax on residential building developers. I echo the calls for my noble friend to look carefully at recouping costs of remediation work from developers of past projects and not just those in the future, especially those who failed to comply with building regulations or cut corners at the time of construction, and the manufacturers of the cladding materials including ACM.

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for making the point. It would be fair to say that the new tax on developers, details of which will be announced shortly, will include a number of the major developers historically responsible for high rises. She makes an important point that we should also consider the role of cladding manufacturers in this crisis. It is fair to say that, while developers have made good solid profits in recent years, the cladding manufactures have had healthy profit margins too. It is important that they are made to contribute to the resolution of the cladding crisis.

No-fault Evictions

Debate between Baroness Altmann and Lord Greenhalgh

Wednesday 27th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

I am not specifically aware of such a cost-benefit analysis, but we will certainly look into that as we develop policy in this area.

[Baroness Altmann (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I declare my interests as in the register. Does my noble friend agree that tenants must have confidence that their landlords will treat them properly, but that the law should not penalise landlords unfairly—most of whom are responsible, have only one or two properties and may have lost significant amounts of rental income in the pandemic? I agree that we must be careful not to give unbalanced rights to tenants to occupy indefinitely—for example, if their landlord needs to sell or move in themselves.

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, it is very important that, when we remove the ability to evict someone through no-fault evictions and Section 21, we also strengthen the rights where there are specific grounds for eviction. That is the nature of the tenancy reform and the Bill that we will bring before the House.

Housing: Leasehold

Debate between Baroness Altmann and Lord Greenhalgh

Tuesday 5th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

Commonhold exists today but the noble Baroness is absolutely right that this will require change, which is always difficult. Never underestimate the power of the status quo. Discussions have happened and will continue to take place with interested parties such as the lenders, which are so important to making this a success.

[Baroness Altmann (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I am delighted that my noble friend has confirmed that the Government will act on these excellent reports, and the sooner the better—as far as I can glean, it may well be coming. Might my noble friend comment also on the Government’s position on the “right to manage” elements of the various reports, which make it easier for tenants with difficult freeholders to manage their properties in their own interests?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, I have just looked at the index of things that we are working on. That policy is still in development, but it is important that we get it right—it is a tricky area.

Covid-19: Places of Worship

Debate between Baroness Altmann and Lord Greenhalgh

Tuesday 3rd November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, I recognise that a difficult decision has been taken by this Government and we are bound by collective responsibility. However, I am very happy to make those representations on behalf of people of all faiths and none to ensure that the core mission of places of worship can be fulfilled at the earliest opportunity.

[Baroness Altmann (Con)]

My Lords, I sympathise with my noble friend who in turn, as the House can tell, has enormous sympathy with the views expressed. I implore him to help colleagues and the Prime Minister understand the impact on mental well-being, the sense of belonging and the social capital of our nation. These are being eroded, and the sense of community that sometimes gets people out of bed in the morning has been put at risk. These places of worship have put in place so much protection: many are safer than your Lordships’ House. I hope that the Government might reconsider.

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, my noble friend puts her point very eloquently. I understand the effort that places of worship have taken to make themselves Covid-secure for a whole range of activities, including the core important function of communal worship. Again, I will make every endeavour to ensure that the Government recognise that. I invoke the name of the Chief Rabbi, who told me that people of faith tend to live longer and have a better quality of life precisely because they converge in a communal way.

End of Eviction Moratorium

Debate between Baroness Altmann and Lord Greenhalgh

Thursday 24th September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness raises the issue of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities and how we can protect them specifically. The Government are developing a Gypsy, Roma and Traveller strategy. It will include measures on how we can support those who are rough sleeping in the Roma community. I point out that the same rules that have been issued to the courts will also apply to that community, namely that there will be no enforcement of evictions in areas of local lockdown and over the Christmas period.

[Baroness Altmann (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register. Not all private landlords are unreasonable and around half have only one property. Equally, not all tenants behave reasonably. Of course, homelessness is a tragedy. However, does my noble friend agree that it is only right, especially after such a long time with courts not operating, to give private landlords the ability to recover their property in cases where they need to and tenants are not behaving in ways that are fair to landlords?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, I completely agree with my noble friend. In fact, it was the Master of the Rolls, Sir Terence Etherton, and Mr Justice Knowles who made it clear that they want to see access to justice and the courts for both landlords and tenants. We need to strike a fair balance so that landlords are able to access justice, alongside measures to protect the most vulnerable. I think we strike that balance with these measures.

Planning Rules

Debate between Baroness Altmann and Lord Greenhalgh

Tuesday 28th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh]

My Lords, as someone who was a local councillor for 16 years and the leader of a council for six years, I point out that simply because you have prior approval does not mean that local communities are unable to comment. They can comment on individual applications for prior approval under the consultation requirements set out in the general permitted development order of 2015. There are ways to make your voice heard, even if there is a presumption that things will go ahead in the ways outlined in the PD rights.

[Baroness Altmann (Con) [V]]

My Lords, can my noble friend explain to the House what the Government’s targets and aims are for building more affordable homes that we desperately need, and how these new measures are expected to impact affordable homes supply?

[Lord Greenhalgh]

These new measures are about unlocking housing potential and housing growth for the much-needed homes that we need. I point to the fact that we are investing £12 billion to build affordable homes between 2021-22 and 2025-26, which is the biggest single cash investment in affordable housing for a decade. I hope that that reassures my noble friend.

Covid-19: Local Government Finance

Debate between Baroness Altmann and Lord Greenhalgh

Monday 29th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh]

At the moment, all I can point to is the commitment by the department to ensure that the cost and demand pressures, as well as the income pressures, are covered by a comprehensive plan. In addition to the increase in funding for local authorities, that would obviate the need to change the way that local government is financed for the time being.

[Baroness Altmann (Con) [V]]

My Lords, can my noble friend confirm that the Government will not countenance local authorities becoming bankrupt, particularly in light of the enormous increase in pension deficits that councils will face and the fact that these pension schemes are not covered by the Pension Protection Fund? Members’ pensions would potentially be at risk should there be an insolvency.

[Lord Greenhalgh]

My Lords, there is an absolute commitment to provide support for local councils through this extremely difficult period. My noble friend is right to point out the pressures we face in pension fund deficits, but that was there before the Covid-19 pandemic. Rest assured that there will shortly be an announcement of a comprehensive plan to support all our local authorities through this pandemic.

Social Housing

Debate between Baroness Altmann and Lord Greenhalgh

Tuesday 16th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh]

Noble Lords will not be surprised to hear that I do not agree with that analysis. The sum of £1 billion to the building safety fund is to ensure that more high-rise buildings are remediated, and in particular to provide a recourse for those who cannot use any other means than public money. The provision of £1 billion is an unprecedented sum to discharge that, and of course we are delighted that so many people had already registered with the fund within several weeks of its opening.

[Baroness Altmann (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I welcome the £12 billion expenditure announced for social housing, but can I ask my noble friend whether there are any plans to encourage the use of pension fund assets, including local authority funds, to fund extensive social housing investment, which could ease the pressures on public expenditure?

[Lord Greenhalgh]

My noble friend has made a very good point, which is that we could use the returns from housing in order to increase investment. I shall have to write to her on the specifics of her point, but it should be noted that the removal of the caps on the housing revenue account was done precisely to enable more money to flow into the building of affordable housing.

Covid-19: Planning System

Debate between Baroness Altmann and Lord Greenhalgh

Monday 8th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh]

We note the point that the noble Baroness makes about the importance of access to open spaces. I am sure that it will be taken up by my colleague the Housing and Planning Minister in his planning commission.

[Baroness Altmann (Con) [V]]

I congratulate my noble friend and the Government on their temporary measures to support greener transport options and promote economic recovery. Can he give the House some idea of the Government’s plans to support economic recovery across all our regions, by creating jobs in projects such as onshore wind or community renewable schemes?

[Lord Greenhalgh]

I thank my noble friend for raising this issue. It is important to recognise that over a period of just two months, £27 billion has been provided in funding for local authorities and local areas—a considerable sum. We will continue to look at all measures required to ensure that we reboot the economy after this wretched pandemic.

Covid-19: Housing

Debate between Baroness Altmann and Lord Greenhalgh

Monday 18th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh]

I thank the noble Lord for his points. He is right that housing affordability is a problem for the next generation and the one that follows. We note that, as a result of this pandemic, it is estimated that house prices have fallen by somewhere between 10% and 30%. We need to understand that the way to deal with the housing crisis is the provision of new homes and ensure that we facilitate those second moves so that the whole housing market gets going again.

[Baroness Altmann (Con)]

I welcome my noble friend to his position, and I also welcome the opening of the housing and construction sectors. In light of the significant problems exposed by this crisis in the care home sector, which has been neglected for many years, and the paucity of suitable housing being built for last-time buyers, will my noble friend urgently investigate ways of encouraging the construction of retirement villages, where elderly residents can live separately if needed but with appropriate support should they require it?

[Lord Greenhalgh]

The noble Baroness makes an important point. We need to remember that we need housing of all types, including that for last-time buyers. Countries such as Germany have invested heavily in retirement homes, and we need to ensure that that is part of our plans in future. I thank the noble Baroness for her question.