Social Housing Bill [HL]

Debate between Lord Evans of Guisborough and Lord Stoneham of Droxford

Committee stage
Wednesday 17th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Stoneham of Droxford (LD)]

My Lords, I intervene briefly to say that the regeneration of some of our social estates is a high priority. The last Labour Government spent a lot of money regenerating city centres. I hope that, if they have long enough, this Labour Government will give a similar high priority to the regeneration of some of our social estates.

It has not been easy, and more difficult in some respects, given the right to buy. As the noble Baroness, Lady O’Neill, said, regeneration takes a long time— 10 or 20 years—so it is difficult to see easy or quick returns, and resources are a huge problem. To achieve the regeneration of these estates, often you need partnerships, not just the local authority but housing associations and private developers. There is obviously an important role for mayors in this as well as we progress.

The main experience that I have had is of the Rowner estate, in Gosport, which was a Royal Naval estate. It was in huge dereliction after the Navy left its responsibilities. The regeneration of that estate has taken 30 years, with a genuine partnership that involved quite difficult decisions, such as the decision that to regenerate it would require it to be turned into an estate that was one-third owner-occupied, one-third private rented and one-third social housing. The transformation has been remarkable. There are many estates up and down our land that are neglected and need an initiative from the Government. In the rush to get high numbers of new houses, we must not forget the regeneration of our older estates.

[Lord Evans of Guisborough (Con)]

My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 117D, which I have tabled. This is the first time that I have tabled an amendment in Committee, so it is a momentous occasion, for me at least.

I apologise for not having taken part in the Second Reading debate as I was unavailable. Clearly, I missed something because the debate so far on the Bill has been extremely well informed and knowledgeable. It is a privilege to contribute, and to follow the noble Lord, Lord Bird, who has done so much to help homeless people in London. As a former Deputy Mayor of London, I can say that we are very grateful for the work that he has done over the years. I am not sure whether I support his amendment, but I certainly support his efforts.

I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Young, who reminded us of the housing action trusts, not least because one of those first trusts was in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. I can well remember the Chingford Hall estate, because it was in my ward, and the trust started its work in my first year as a newly elected councillor in 1990. I stayed in that ward for 12 years, so I was able to see the work continue and conclude. That estate has been transformed. There is clearly a lesson here for all of us.

I move to my amendment. As a former deputy mayor, I understand that housing is a challenging and complex issue for us to deal with, and many factors affect whether a mayor can achieve their targets. My noble friend Lady O’Neill reminded us that there are now 1.3 million households on the social housing waiting list. I am very much aware that the construction industry and the property sector in this country provide an underpinning for general economic activity. If we can get homes being built, we will provide jobs and skills for people, and we will feed more money into the economy. It is vital not just for providing homes for people but for growing the economy.

In London, I am afraid that the story recently has not been so good. In 2022-23, there were 26,000 starts, which was a pretty good performance, but, by 2023-24, that had fallen to just over 3,000. In response, the mayor has reduced the amount of social housing that he requires in developments from 35% to 20%; that will bring some developments within a range where it is profitable for the builders to build them, which was clearly not the case before, so it is a step forward, but even with that concession, London is still struggling. The most recent figures that we have, from the JLL Partners survey that took place earlier this year, was that in the first three months of 2026 only 7% of housing starts were achieved, which leaves London’s government with 93% to complete for the rest of the year, which I think noble Lords will agree is a challenging target.

It is against this background that I am promoting this amendment, which would provide a mechanism to ensure accountability not just for the Mayor of London but for mayors and authorities around the country. At this stage, we are just asking for a feasibility study, but I think the possibilities may range beyond housing targets: the results of the study could be applied to other targets and to democratic accountability for mayors in future. I place the idea before the Committee, and I very much look forward to the Minister’s response.