Housing (CSR)

Alison Seabeck Excerpts

Wednesday 27th October 2010 Westminster Hall

[Alison Seabeck (Plymouth, Moor View) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to be called to speak under your chairmanship, Mr Gray, for the first time in my new role.

I start by congratulating my right hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Mr Raynsford) on securing the debate on a matter of such fundamental importance to our country and local communities.

Let us be clear: there is a shortage of supply. We have been through the worst recession since the 1930s. However, in the teeth of the global recession, the Labour Government supported the building of 50,000 homes in the first six months of this year through the Homes and Communities Agency.

The housing sector has been like a patient on life support—but this month the Government pulled the plug. In the comprehensive spending review, they have failed to offer the sector any sense of direction. Instead, we have had the revocation of planning rules, whereby hundreds of thousands of much-needed homes will be scrapped, while the new homes bonus scheme has been long delayed. Given the time lag inherent in the eventual payment arrangements for that policy, when does the Minister anticipate that the first foundations of such homes will be laid?

The Government have shown over the past few months that they have the capacity to destroy confidence in the housing market, to reduce the number of new homes being built and to eviscerate the very concept of social homes. Rent at 80% of market rates is simply not affordable for many hard-working families on low incomes or, indeed, for pensioners. Many families will not accept new, more expensive and less secure tenancies, leaving them with the unpalatable choice of remaining in overcrowded accommodation. Does the Minister believe that that would represent a fair deal for tenants? Tenants do not seem to matter any more.

If the economy is to grow—the hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Mr Field) highlighted the importance of growth—we need to ensure that people can be mobile. The changes proposed by the Government represent a significant block to moving by choice to access new jobs. I said “moving by choice” deliberately—we will see people having to move, because they have no choice, to areas of poorer housing, with few job opportunities, since that is where all the cheap accommodation will be. According to London Councils’ briefing on housing benefit changes, local authorities are already looking to the outer ring of London and beyond for suitable temporary accommodation, moving families away from the areas that they know to bed and breakfasts in seaside towns—something we have not seen since the early 1990s.

My hon. Friends cited many examples of the impact of current and future policies, and they all supported the general thrust of the speech made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich that we need to have a viable intermediate and social housing sector to meet needs. He also highlighted the month-on-month improvement in sales up to the general election, followed by the fear of a double-dip recession as the implications of Government policies are understood in the sector.

The hon. Member for Banbury (Tony Baldry), in his genuine search for knowledge and answers to questions, highlighted not only the importance of the good use of public sector land in his area, but, importantly, the issue of mortgage funding and the concern that there is a narrow view in the Financial Services Authority that is not allowing sensible risk or flexibility in the lending sector.

My hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts) spoke of others’ expertise, but his contribution to the debate gave us the benefit of his own. His unpicking of the detail of the housing benefit and its associated costs was forensic, highlighting the confusion in the advice given in Government documents. I hope that we get some prompt clarification of some of his points from the Minister.

The hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster also mentioned the uncertainty about the precise implications of Government policy. He touched on repairs and maintenance as well, but my understanding is that the money raised from the new higher rent will not be earmarked for maintenance. If that issue is not tackled, we will see a drift back into a huge backlog of disrepair. He also mentioned housing finance being treated as off the balance sheet—I would welcome the Government’s clarification on that position.

My hon. Friend the Member for Bridgend (Mrs Moon) made a powerful speech highlighting the personal misery that can be caused by Government policies and the housing trap.

Every stone that I have lifted since coming into my post has revealed another issue that does not seem to have been understood or addressed by the Government. The Minister must see the contradictions between the different strands of his Government’s policies. He must see the damage that his policies are doing to the aspirations of families who just want to secure a roof over their heads.

Many right hon. and hon. Members value the diversity of their constituencies—a point made by the hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster—and they know that the changes advocated by the Government and the Minister will tear it apart, through a housing and benefits policy that will, essentially, ghettoise those in social housing and on low incomes. We need to value mixed communities and the Government’s policies do not deliver that.

To return to tenancies before I wind up, the Minister was once a vocal supporter of secure tenancies and low social rents. We have to ask, if there were a Conservative majority Government and he were still in opposition, would he have kept true to his earlier beliefs? We know what those beliefs were—the Minister was a serious, cautious, discriminate and highly selective signer of early-day motions while in opposition. He signed more than 2,800 in the last Parliament and, in 2008, put his name to early-day motion 355. Perhaps he does not recall it, but let me quote it:

“That this House points out the urgent need to boost the economy by a massive programme of public investment to improve existing council homes and estates and build a new generation of first-class council housing to provide secure tenancies and low rents”—

sentiments supported by many hon. Members in the Chamber.

The Minister has a waiting list of around 9,000 in his own authority. The average weekly rent for a property there is about £54, yet he now advocates rents at 80% of the market: an increase in London of about £200 a week for a two-bedroom property and of about £50 in Hazel Grove. How many of his constituents will be able to afford to remain living in his constituency? Perhaps his majority, too, is being gerrymandered?

As a member of the Government, the Minister will have to vote in favour of the removal of the security of tenure. He will oversee a 60% reduction in the Government’s funding for new affordable homes. Call it a U-turn or a volte-face, but whatever we call it, we know the decision is wrong for this country, making a mockery of the phrase, “We’re all in this together.”

No, it does not really matter when the Minister changed his mind. Was it before or after the coalition discovered that the debt was lower and economic growth higher than they expected when taking office? Was it before he ceased to be an Opposition MP or, as I suspect, when the chance of cosying up to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government proved too much to resist?

Can the Minister confirm, in addition to responding to the excellent points made by right hon. and hon. Members, that the 67,000 homes to be built in the next two years are in fact a carry-over from the previous Labour Government’s plans? They are Labour’s houses. Can he confirm that the remaining 80,000 homes that the Government hope to build will not be for social rent at all and that to call a rent of 80% of the market rate affordable is disingenuous? Can he confirm that any lack of take-up of the new tenancy will create a shortfall in the Government’s funding plans for new housing? Can he confirm that the revocation of the regional spatial strategies will cause the cancellation of more than 300,000 planned homes between now and next year, as the National Housing Federation suggests?

What is the Housing Minister’s plan B? According to the response that he made to the Select Committee on Communities and Local Government, it is to keep upping incentives until the local authorities bite. At what point will a decision be taken to increase the incentive? What is the figure for new builds that will give rise to a review of the payment? What hope does the scheme have if local authorities and, to a certain extent, developers know that Ministers will increase the money that they receive if they simply wait? The consequences of the Government’s actions will be felt for a generation. I look forward to the Minister’s response.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Stunell]

I welcome that, and I am happy to report that we are continuing the investment in the decent homes programme.

Let me get to the right hon. Gentleman’s central proposition, which is that there was somehow no evidence of a need to change housing policies. The previous Government’s housing policy depended on continuing with the claim that they had dealt with boom and bust. As it turned out, they had dealt only with the boom. There is no public money available—those were the words of the outgoing Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr Byrne). Indeed, during this debate, the Government will have borrowed another £24 million to fund the services that we deliver, but for which we have no income. An extra £400 million will be borrowed today, and another £400 million extra will be borrowed tomorrow and every day this year. This year, £150 billion will be borrowed. The money is not there.

What about targets? We have heard some nonsense from the Labour Front Bencher about thousands of homes having been cancelled. What she actually means is that many of the homes in the Labour targets have not been built. Last year, when Labour was in power, 78,000 fewer homes were built than were in the Government’s target. Only 57% of the target was met. We know, therefore, that the Opposition’s figures depend on an economy that Labour bust, on public money that we do not have, and on public targets that did not work.

[Alison Seabeck]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Andrew Stunell]

I am happy to give way to the hon. Lady and I am listening out for her apology.

[Alison Seabeck]

Will the hon. Gentleman confirm that 70 local authorities have withdrawn planning applications on the basis of a letter sent to them by the Secretary of State?

[Andrew Stunell]

That, of course, is what was wrong with the targets: they built up resistance in local communities—although not in all of them, of course; colleagues in Yeovil and Chesterfield could not build the houses that they wanted because of the absurd national targets.

The hon. Lady quoted early-day motion 355. Outside Westminster tube station, the National Housing Federation has posted a plea to us all for more affordable and social homes. I want to say very clearly—I shall be saying this on many other occasions—that when it comes to producing more affordable and social homes, a party that finished up with 45,000 fewer such homes than it started out with 13 years before is not in a good position to criticise the coalition Government. When we go in five years’ time, we will leave more homes in the social sector than we started with.

The National Housing Federation briefing, which hon. Members have perhaps drawn on, says:

“Our modelling suggests that the Government’s claim that up to 150,000 homes will be delivered over the four year period is achievable”,

and it adds:

“If one in four new lettings across the sector…are made at 80% of market rent”.

The reference to “one in four” is interesting. Opposition Members imagine that the Government will impose a new model compulsorily on every housing authority. That is absolutely not the case. If the National Housing Federation, which is, let us face it, not a particularly good friend of the Government at the moment, says that we can get our 150,000 homes with a quarter of rents at an affordable level, it ill behoves Opposition Members to spread lies and deceit about the issue.