Housing and Planning Bill

Lord Thurlow Excerpts

Tuesday 26th January 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Thurlow (CB) (Maiden Speech)]

My Lords, as a chartered surveyor, I have chosen to make my maiden speech on this Bill today, and I hope that I can usefully add to the debate on this subject here and in future. First, I wish to thank the many people who have enabled my induction to proceed so smoothly. I include all the staff of the House, particularly the doorkeepers, with their unique brand of subtle guidance, and I certainly include the police and security staff. They all share the qualities of charm, understanding and patience for which I am really most grateful.

It is with a mixture of pride and humility that I stand here today, and I am honoured to have been elected as a hereditary Peer. I chose the Cross Benches because I wish to be independent and to vote with my conscience not with a party whip. My first predecessor in the title in this Chamber sat on the Woolsack in the late 18th century and bemoaned the loss of the American colonies. In fact, I believe that one of the reasons he resigned was because we were not prepared to fight it out. Since then I have been preceded by a number of bishops and others and latterly by my father, who was known to a number of your Lordships. As a career diplomat, he was rather more interested in encouraging colonial independence. He served here as a Cross-Bencher for nearly 30 years. Aged almost 90, he chose not to stand at the hereditary election. I look forward to serving as he did.

By way of my background, my early years were spent abroad following the nomadic diplomatic family circus in far-flung places, moving country every few years, which was an interesting education in itself. In due course, for whatever reason, I joined a mainstream firm of property consultants, qualified, and some 35 years later, in my 50s, retired from that firm having enjoyed a thoroughly fulfilling career in the world of property development, investment and finance. I retain a few appointments in the sector which are declared in the register of interests.

I am particularly interested in this Bill after many years working in the parallel world. Like the noble Baroness, Lady Thornhill, who made an excellent speech, I am conscious of the tradition of remaining non-controversial in a maiden speech, and I promise to do my best to do so.

Like others, I am fully aware of the need to increase the supply of both social and private housing and for residential letting arrangements to be made more flexible. I welcome the proposals to deal with rogue landlords and agents. The recent emergence of the private rented sector as a mainstream element, potentially, of the housing stock in this country is to be applauded, and large sums, which could become hundreds of millions of private sector pounds, have been earmarked by investors for residential development exclusively to rent. Hopefully this will become an important ingredient of private housing provision nationwide and take pressure off the demand for outright ownership. I declare an interest in one let flat in London.

On the subject of planning, the process would benefit from simplifying and speeding up. There appears an opportunity now, presented with this Bill, for greater local community involvement and to consider giving local guidance to developers not only to increase the housing stock, but to materially change and improve our surroundings. Latterly, architects have frequently been forced to design and build to the cheapest price, and frequently their imagination and flair have been compromised. As our urban landscape often reminds us, the built environment has suffered. That could change, and I hope the Bill’s proposals provide a means of achieving this. It is important to remember that delays to development impact economic growth.

I am pleased to note that the Bill introduces transparency on the subject of brownfield land. The proposed obligation to maintain registers of these sites, attached to a simplified permissions process, is an important step forward. This land is often vacant, sometimes contaminated, with unmaintained, unsafe buildings and is unsightly in built-up areas. To encourage building on this derelict land rather than on green fields seems preferable.

To conclude, I look forward to working on these subjects with your Lordships, and I hope that I can contribute in future on similar and other matters.