Housing: Market Stability
Debate between Lord Morris of Handsworth and Baroness Hanham
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, we welcome any proposals that will enable us to work with the industry to try to find a way around the barriers faced by the insurance scheme at the moment. We currently welcome private insurance solutions and recognise that there are enormous challenges for first-time buyers. We are already running the mortgage rescue scheme, as I am sure the noble Lord knows. Some £200 million has been put into that scheme already, and we have already helped 38,000 households with that money as well as with advice and support. So it is not as though the Government are not doing anything—we are making substantial efforts—and if the economy were to stabilise and settle down, much of this problem would go away.
Lord Morris of Handsworth
My Lords, I declare an interest as chair of the Midland Heart Housing Association. Are the Government not aware that a sustainable housing sector depends on its ability to borrow and on the willingness of the banks to lend? Can the Minister tell us what action Project Merlin can now take to stimulate the housing sector by assisting it in its borrowing needs?
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, this goes back a little to my answer to the previous question. The economy, which is the first priority of this Government, needs to be effectively stabilised. After that, we hope that the banks will feel able to bring themselves more into the market to help particularly first-time buyers with mortgages. However, the first line of defence will have to be making sure that the economy is right.
Housing
Debate between Lord Morris of Handsworth and Baroness Hanham
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, local authorities work with private landlords in a number of ways. Some help to put people who are homeless into the private sector, and others work on an “empty homes” basis. I do not think there is any thought of changing any of that. Certainly, the private sector provides a valuable service in housing people, although there must be some restrictions on the amount of rent that people pay.
Lord Morris of Handsworth
The Prime Minister made it absolutely clear that public expenditure cuts will be deeper in the north-east of England and Northern Ireland than in the rest of the United Kingdom. Can the Minister tell the House whether this blatant discrimination against the people of the north-east, and their services, will apply to the social housing sector?
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, under the Government’s plans, the decisions about housing will be passed down to the lowest level, to local authorities, and it will be up to people in the north-east and elsewhere to decide themselves what housing they need.