Planning Reforms: Energy and Housing Costs

Lord McFall of Alcluith Excerpts

Thursday 15th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness for her question. The Government have announced additional funding to support the recruitment and training of 300 graduates and apprentices for local planning authorities. However, I have worked in local government for a long time, and I am not naive enough to think you can pick planners from trees; they need to be trained. This forms part of a wider £46 million package of investment in the planning system to upskill local planners and ensure they can implement our reforms, including ensuring that everywhere has an up-to-date local plan in place. We need to inspire young people into these careers and make sure that they see the benefit of a career in planning. We are never going to be able to compete with the private sector on salary, but we can compete on the excitement of developing local places and good places for people to live, and I hope that will inspire people.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, I invite the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, to participate remotely.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, do not planning reforms which fail to address land costs for housing development perpetuate a system in which high costs determine affordability of housing for sale? Again, I ask my oft-repeated question: why not examine arrangements in Nijmegen in Holland and Hammarby in Sweden, where housing for sale has been built on land acquired at agricultural prices? Indeed, we could go further by adopting new forms of title which lock in discounted affordable sale prices with occupancy and resale restrictions. We need to think out of the box in this housing crisis.

Housing: New Homes Target

Lord McFall of Alcluith Excerpts

Thursday 24th April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I agree with the noble Lord that we have to pay attention to the demand side as well; today’s under-30s are less than half as likely to be home owners as those of the same age in 1990, so there are real affordability challenges which we are determined to tackle. In addition to increasing the supply of homes, we have committed to launching a new, permanent comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme, meaning that first-time buyers will be able to take their crucial first step on the property ladder with only a small deposit. New details of that will be announced in due course. Alongside that, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury has written to the Financial Conduct Authority setting out the Government’s support for its proposal to review mortgage rules. The Government have made it clear that they want the FCA’s review to be as ambitious and as rapid as possible.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, I invite the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, to participate remotely.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, in Nijmegen in Holland and Hammarby in Sweden, they built housing for sale in special zones on agricultural-priced land, thereby reducing housing costs—an issue I have previously raised in housing debates. Now, with a Labour Government, why cannot we similarly designate land and, to block quick resale profit-taking, introduce measures such as new forms of title, disincentives in taxation and Section 52-type planning occupancy restrictions? Can Ministers at least give new ideas a thought? Solving the housing crisis requires original thinking.

Private Rented Sector: Affordable Rents

Lord McFall of Alcluith Excerpts

Thursday 27th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness for her question. We have discussed this in the Chamber before, and the Government have been clear: we do not support rent controls. Heavy-handed rent controls tend to mean higher rents at the start of a tenancy, and they can make it much harder for prospective tenants to find a home. They also encourage the growth of unregulated sub-letting, which can leave the most vulnerable tenants very exposed to higher costs and minimal protections. Those rent controls always come at a cost, often in reduced investment in housing supply and quality standards. We prefer to use this mechanism to strengthen tenants’ rights.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, is participating remotely. I invite him to speak.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, has my noble friend seen the very interesting briefing from UNISON, which has 1.3 million members? The brief calls for measures to stop escalating rents; increased enforcement and the regulation of landlords and their agents; changes to the benefits system, incentivising work; and measures to end the right to buy in conditions of housing shortage. We urgently need to find a way to ensure that rents in the private sector become affordable. Could Ministers arrange to meet UNISON representatives to discuss their very interesting proposals for reform?

Voter Registration and Participation

Lord McFall of Alcluith Excerpts

Thursday 14th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Lord makes an excellent point on the difference between urban and rural participation. My department, MHCLG, is working with other government departments to explore the potential use of their data and online services to help improve voter registration across all areas. Continued collaboration is essential to deliver the Government’s electoral reform agenda. We will work with academics, civil society groups, the Electoral Commission and the electoral sector across the country, particularly with local communities.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, is participating remotely.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, have we not wasted millions on a national scheme of individual registration to deal with a problem of fraud confined to only a few inner-city areas? Was not the real reason for the scheme’s implementation no more than a deliberate attempt by the then Government to suppress the vote in disadvantaged, transient communities in Labour inner-city areas? Ministers should read the debate of 8 September 2020 on the Parliamentary Constituencies Bill, where deficiencies in electoral registration were fully exposed. We need to increase the vote, not spend money decreasing it.