Residential Accommodation: Empty Homes
Debate between Lord Grocott and Baroness Swinburne
Lord Grocott (Lab)
My Lords, we have heard various statistics from different questioners. I would like to know what the Government’s figure is, not for percentages but for the absolute number of empty houses in England. The Select Committee on the Built Environment gave an estimate of nearly half a million in its report a couple of years ago. Surely there should be a tremendous incentive on the Government, with their 300,000 target, for making more homes available to speed up this process massively, bearing in mind that it is not just that empty houses are a gross waste of resources when there are huge numbers on the waiting list but that empty houses do not just frequently blight near neighbours but can sometimes blight a whole neighbourhood. It really is time that the Government—in their own interests, I suggest—got on with this.
Baroness Swinburne (Con)
I thank the noble Lord for his comments and question. The number I have here in the file for England is 248,633 empty homes by the definition of six months empty.
Housing and Planning: Policy Changes
Debate between Lord Grocott and Baroness Swinburne
Baroness Swinburne (Con)
I thank my noble friend for those multiple questions; I will try and do them justice. Affordable housing is a serious commitment by this Government. Indeed, the £11.5 billion affordable homes programme is delivering thousands of homes both for rent and to buy across the country. The levelling up White Paper committed to increasing the supply of social rented homes, and a large number of the new homes have been delivered through the affordable homes programme so far. With regards to the other questions, I will get back to my noble friend in writing.
Lord Grocott (Lab)
Can the Minister confirm that, if we are going to have these targets met to build more houses, we need the people to build them? Can she confirm the figures, that 35% of the construction industry workforce are over the age of 50, and just 20% are under the age of 30? The estimate is that we will need 43,000 more workers in the construction industry per year to fill the gap. What are the Government doing to achieve that?
Baroness Swinburne (Con)
I do not have the specific numbers with me today and I will make sure that they are provided to the noble Lord by the relevant office. With regards specifically to SMEs, we do have various activities going on to support the sector and to support all of its needs with regards to their supply of the workforce.