Social Housing Bill [HL]

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Report stage
Monday 20th July 2026 Lords Chamber

Amendment 9 not moved.

[The Deputy Speaker (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall) (Lab)]

As Amendment 9 has not been moved, I cannot call Amendments 10 to 12.

Clause 12: Restriction on certain sales of social housing by private registered providers

Amendment 13

Moved by

Social Housing Bill [HL]

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Committee stage
Wednesday 17th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Young of Cookham (Con)]

Would it be in order to speak to Amendment 66?

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall) (Lab)]

For clarification, the question before the Committee is that Clause 14 stand part.

[Lord Young of Cookham (Con)]

Amendment 66 in my name is a probing amendment relating to the paragraph which abolishes the provision in earlier legislation to phase out tenancies for life. It has much in common with Amendments 77 and 78, which are in the names of my noble friends.

There were two speeches at Second Reading which made me think the time had come to review the assumption that life tenancies are the best way to allocate a scarce resource. Neither speech, as it happens, was from these Benches. One was from the noble Lord, Lord Bird, and this is what he said:

“Why is it that social housing is now nothing like what it was? Having been brought up in the slums of Notting Hill, I was stuck in a Catholic orphanage for a few years and then moved to Fulham ... there we had our own beautiful piece of social housing. In that block of flats were trainee police officers, trainee teachers, drivers and all sorts of people, including disabled people and those who were old. It was sociable and socially mixed”.


He went on to say:

“Unfortunately, what has happened to social housing is that it is under threat. It is under threat because the bar has been raised by local authorities and now it takes only the most desperate, largely, whereas in the good old days it was a reflection of the working class, the upper working class and even the lower middle class”.—[Official Report, 1/6/26; cols. 722-23.]


The other speech was from the noble Lord, Lord John of Southwark, and this is what he said:

“There are some policies pursued by Governments which are very much of their time. Perhaps regrettably, we do not review those policies sufficiently regularly and they become enshrined in our body politic, but they were the answer to the question of a different era”.


He was talking about the right to buy, but it struck me that the same might be said of security of tenure. It was the right policy at the time, but that does not mean it is the right policy for today. The noble Lord went on to make the point that times had changed, saying:

“Councils have ever-increasing waiting lists for council housing, and they face the massive financial and social challenge of dealing with the need for and cost of temporary accommodation. There is no spare housing, let alone properties which are hard to let; there is a housing shortage”.—[Official Report, 1/6/26; cols. 693-4.]


Times have indeed changed. I looked at the speech which Nye Bevan gave on 16 March 1949, when he introduced the Housing Bill. He said:

“We shall, of course, go on providing additional homes until we have reached the position of providing a separate home for every family in the country. The House must reflect that when that is done—and we shall do it before very long—it will be the first time that any nation has done it in the recorded history of mankind”—


would that he had been right about that. But he went on to say that

“we should try to introduce in our modern villages”,

and towns, housing where

“the doctor, the grocer, the butcher and farm labourer all lived in the same street … in ... the living tapestry of a mixed community”.—[Official Report, Commons, 16/3/1949; cols. 2124-27.]

Sustainable Drainage Systems

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Thursday 11th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I think the noble Baroness is referring to Schedule 3, which has been under consideration since 2010. It is important that we consider the most efficient and effective way of securing the objectives of that. Although a final decision has still not been made, we believe this can be better achieved through continued improvements to national planning policy and the adoption of maintenance approaches, rather than commencing Schedule 3. That is why we have strengthened the national planning policy on that important issue.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)]

My Lords, does my noble friend agree that at the micro level, small areas of open ground such as gardens, and particularly front gardens, are an important part of a natural drainage system, particularly in urban areas? Can she tell the House whether there is any active discouragement coming from local authorities, or indeed from government, to stop people or in any way discourage them from paving over important areas of open ground that are under their control?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The discouragement from doing that comes through the planning process. When this kind of paving over is done subsequent to that, it is very difficult to monitor it, but I am sure our local authorities take a very serious attitude. Indeed, when I was a county councillor I had areas in my own county division that were subject to flooding, and we went out, inspected and gave advice to householders about how they might take these things forward. It remains the responsibility of local authorities to ensure that there is proper drainage for local areas and to make sure that a small area of paving will not overwhelm the systems that are put in place to take the water away.

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Report stage
Thursday 26th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I have double-checked the voting arrangements. It is a two-thirds majority for combined authority and combined county authority budgets. It is a simple majority, including the mayor, for most other things in a combined authority, and a combined county authority. The Bill does not override existing voting arrangements set out in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act, or the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act. This has to be done by consequential SI. The existing voting arrangements are set out in Article 8 of the Combined Authorities (Finance) Order 2017, and will continue to stand. I hope that is helpful.

[The Deputy Speaker (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall) (Lab)]

My Lords, does the noble Baroness wish to test the opinion of the House on Amendment 84?

[Baroness Pidgeon (LD)]

I would still like to test the opinion of the House.

--- Later in debate ---

Amendments 151 to 170 not moved.

[The Deputy Speaker (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall) (Lab)]

My Lords, before we move to the next amendment, I need to tell the House that there has been a slight revision to the voting figures on the last vote, on Amendment 121. The figures as announced were Contents 152; Not-Contents 126. The latter figure has been revised to 128. The outcome is not affected, but the figures are slightly different.

Amendment 171

Moved by

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Committee stage
Wednesday 17th September 2025 Lords Chamber

262A: Clause 57, page 93, line 24, leave out from first “the” to end of line 27 and insert “EDP (see section 76(4) and (5)).”
Member's explanatory statement
This amendment is consequential on my amendment to clause 76 inserting a new subsection (4).

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall) (Lab)]

I alert the Committee to the fact that, if this amendment is agreed to, I shall not be able to call Amendment 263 by reason of pre-emption.

Amendment 262A agreed.

--- Later in debate ---

286A: Clause 60, page 96, line 4, leave out “conservation measures are likely to be sufficient to” and insert “effect of the conservation measures will materially”
Member's explanatory statement
This amendment would make changes to strengthen the overall improvement test, which the Secretary of State must consider before making an EDP.

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall) (Lab)]

I alert the House that if this amendment is agreed to, I cannot call Amendments 287 or 287A by reason of pre-emption.

Amendment 286A agreed.

Housing: Section 21 Evictions

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Tuesday 20th February 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, I looked very carefully at what my right honourable friend said, and he said that we will have outlawed it by the next general election—we will have passed the Bill and put money into the courts to ensure that we can enforce it. We are already putting money into the courts—£1.2 million this year.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)]

Could the Minister answer the question that she was just asked by her noble friend Lord Young? She was asked whether it would be possible still before the general election, and indeed possibly after it, for tenants to be issued with a Section 21 eviction notice. I do not think that she answered that question.

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, the position since the White Paper and the introduction of the Bill has been that we will need to give six months’ notice on the implementation of Section 21 for new tenancies. We are committed to passing the Bill before the end of this Parliament and putting in place the resources we need to get everything in place during that six months’ notice period, so that we can implement the ban on Section 21 as soon as possible.

Building Repairs: VAT

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Thursday 14th December 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

Both the Department of Health and the Department for Education are taking forward very careful programmes to address the issue of RAAC. As part of that, I am sure they will consider the most cost-effective way of addressing those issues. My noble friend Lady Barran is working very closely on the schools issue, to ensure that all schools affected by RAAC have it removed or remediated as soon as possible.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Minister spare a thought for the small but significant number of people who live very modestly in listed buildings? I have to declare an interest, being one of those people. I live in a very small house which happens to be listed, in a conservation area. The business of repairing and maintaining it is extremely expensive and very difficult to achieve, partly because the planning system does not co-operate on very small interventions which could make a significant difference—for instance, insulation. What are the Government doing to help this situation?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

I acknowledge the point that the noble Baroness has made. We are doing two things in this area. We have updated the National Planning Policy Framework so that, in determining planning applications, local planning authorities should give significant weight to the need to support energy efficiency and low-carbon heating improvements to existing buildings. Specifically on the practical planning barriers that households can face when they are in conservation areas or listed buildings, in our energy security strategy, published last year, we committed to reviewing the barriers that people in such buildings face. That review is under way and I believe that the outcome will be published shortly.

Homelessness: Vagrancy Act 1824

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Monday 10th July 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con)]

I am not prepared to say what legislation might go. Part of this is not about what legislation goes but how much support we can give those individuals in trying to get them off the streets and into homes.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)]

My Lords, in answering a number of questions, the noble Baroness has referred to stakeholders in the consultation. Who has a stake in retaining the Vagrancy Act?

[Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con)]

Nobody has a stake in retaining it, but many organisations have a stake in what would replace it—the police, local authorities, the third sector, faith communities and all those people involved in not only changing the law but giving support to those very vulnerable people who may need our help.

Grenfell Tower: Demolition

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Monday 6th September 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, despite the reporting, I can assure my noble friend that the school does not require any move or decant in the future. The tower is safe; there are no immediate safety issues. As I said, the programme of safety maintenance continues until the spring of next year.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)]

My Lords, picking up on the points raised by the most reverend Primate, will the Minister tell the House what proportion, if any, of those who were displaced immediately following the fire and had to be found temporary accommodation are still in temporary accommodation? Of those, how many are still in the borough and how many have had to go elsewhere?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, I know that the vast majority of people have found secure, settled and long-term accommodation. I will have to write to her about the absolute number of people still in temporary, but relatively stable, accommodation and the number of those who are outside the borough.

Non-Domestic Rating (Public Lavatories) Bill

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Wednesday 24th February 2021 Lords Chamber

Amendments 6 and 7 not moved.

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall) (Lab)]

My Lords, we now come to the group consisting of Amendment 8. Anyone wishing to press this to a Division must make that clear in the debate.

Amendment 8

Moved by

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Greaves (LD)]

My Lords, I will read carefully the Minister’s reply—and go one more step towards being able to pass my GCSE in business rating. I accept his assurance that what he said will be the case. As on all these occasions, if it happens not to be the case, we will come back and harass him in the House. However, his reply was acceptable; I will read it carefully and attempt to understand it.

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall)]

Do I take it that the noble Lord wishes to withdraw his amendment?

[Lord Greaves (LD)]

I am sorry. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

--- Later in debate ---

Clause 2 agreed.

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall)]

My Lords, we now come to the group beginning with Amendment 11. Anyone wishing to press this or anything else in this group to a Division must make that clear in debate.

Amendment 11

Moved by