Housing and Planning Bill

Lord McKenzie of Luton Excerpts

Tuesday 26th January 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord McKenzie of Luton (Lab)]

My Lords, six minutes is barely time to scratch the surface of this Bill. It is certainly not enough time fully to expose the policy failures of this Government and their predecessors, who have seen home ownership fall year on year, fewer homes built than any peacetime Government since the 1920s, soaring homelessness and rough sleeping, and one in four families with children renting in the private sector, with private rents reaching an all-time high. It is not enough time, either, to spell out in detail why this Bill fails to address the housing needs of our country. Instead, the Bill offers starter homes that are a non-starter for most; the loss of genuinely affordable homes to rent or buy; the increasing centralisation of our planning system; a flawed right to buy; and the removal of security for tenants. We can have no confidence that it will fundamentally address the chronic shortage of housing in this country. So there will be much for us to do in Committee.

I would like to concentrate my brief comments on just two areas: planning and the so-called high- income social tenants. On planning, the coalition Government proclaimed a new world with the NPPF, the scrapping of regional spatial strategies, the duty to co-operate, neighbourhood planning and neighbourhood development orders, all done under the banner of localism —and, of course, the new homes bonus to solve our housing crisis. If this was all such a success, why does this Bill include a raft of new centralising powers for the Secretary of State to intervene to require local planning authorities to designate specific neighbourhood areas; to set time limits on decisions to hold a referendum on neighbourhood development orders; to direct an authority to amend its local development scheme; to give instructions to an independent examiner to intervene in the development plan process; and to direct the local planning authority to revise a document and submit it to independent examination? Whatever happened to localism? All this moves us inexorably away from a planning system anchored in the democratic processes of the local community. How will all of this encourage local communities to support the new developments we so desperately need?

As if this were not enough, there are powers for the Secretary of State concerning planning obligations and powers to introduce pilots involving alternative providers for the processing of applications for planning permission—the thin end of the wedge, no doubt. Why will the Government not properly resource local authorities’ depleted planning departments and make sensible provision for planning fees?

So far as the proposal to charge market rents to “high income” social tenants is concerned, this has all the makings of a bureaucratic nightmare. Although we may not object in principle to the fundamental proposal, as we have heard previously the threshold above which tenants will be subject to higher rents, £30,000, will hit many hundreds of thousands of households, including couples working full time and earning just the living wage. We, of course, see a disparity between the treatment of housing associations and local authorities. For the former, the policy is mandatory; for the latter, it is voluntary. The additional rents charged by housing associations will be available to them for additional investment but local authorities will have to hand over their proceeds to the Treasury. Like so many aspects of this Bill, the details will be left to regulation. Perhaps the Minister will tell us how much of this we will see before the legislation moves on from this House.

We know that “high income” will be determined by the income of the two highest earners in the household and that the assessment will be based on gross income. The practical challenges of this are obvious. How will the policy cater for the changing composition of households, with individuals moving in and out during the course of a year, or during the course of the year for which the income is to be calculated? What will be the basis of assessment? If rent demands have to be processed before the start of a year, then for the current year and the preceding year a person’s income for tax purposes will not always be known. What will be the position for the self-employed, whose tax position can in certain circumstances take longer to agree? Generally, what will happen if there are legitimate adjustments to gross income for tax purposes after a rent level has been set? Will there be a refund? Will there be an appeals process?

The current rent standard guidance contains provisions which exclude the standard applying where household income reaches £60,000 or more. Here, the household is defined as the tenant or tenants, plus spouses, civil partners or partners. Is it envisaged that the same definitions will apply in these circumstances? Can it be confirmed that adult children living at home—an increasing phenomenon, given our housing crisis—will be outside the calculation? How do the Government respond to concerns that the policy will be a work disincentive and discourage individuals from working longer hours?

The administration of all this will not be without its challenges, but this is just one of the Bill’s lost opportunities.