Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Bill

Baroness Hanham Excerpts

Friday 30th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham)]

My Lords, I, too, thank my noble friend Lady Eaton for bringing the Bill to this House and my honourable friend Richard Harrington for having taken it through the House of Commons. As the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, has said, it is an important Bill: it may have a small number of clauses but its effect is very serious indeed. I am happy to confirm that the Government have been very pleased to support it through the House of Commons and will continue to support it here. This is a Private Member’s Bill and noble Lords will know that it is up to the mover to respond to questions, but I think it is appropriate for me to say at the outset that we want to see this legislation introduced as soon as possible.

As other noble Lords have said, social housing fraud is a stain on our communities. It causes substantial financial loss and damage, especially to those who are stuck on a waiting list and in desperate need of housing: it denies them that opportunity. Introducing measures to reduce the number of homes occupied by those who are cheating the system and who often make a substantial profit in doing so, as my noble friend Lady Eaton said, is, by the sound of it, something that the whole House is going to endorse and I am grateful for that. We cannot ignore the financial cost. To replace social homes that are being unlawfully occupied, to house those who are being denied a property by tenancy fraudsters, would cost several billion pounds. We already know that we need to build a very substantial number of new houses to meet the demand anyway.

The Government have worked with local authorities and housing associations over the past couple of years to help them recognise that fraud is taking place and to deal with the problem. In 2010, as the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, said, grant aid to local authorities of £19 million over four years was announced, as well as the Government funding a team at the Chartered Institute of Housing to help increase expertise and spread good practice. Both these factors, as well as a number of conferences, which I hope that I helped at, have raised the profile of this issue and, importantly, increased the number of homes recovered for reallocation to those in genuine need. The Audit Committee has estimated that 1,800 local authority properties have been recovered in the past year, but noble Lords will recognise that that still leaves a substantial number.

My noble friend Lady Eaton touched upon the importance of increasing landlords’ ability to access data: that is another matter that has been raised by the two noble Lords who have spoken. Those data should be available when investigating social housing fraud and I am very pleased that the Bill contains regulation-making powers to this end. The Government are, of course, committed to introducing the appropriate safeguards alongside any enhancement of landlords’ powers in this area. Of course, access to data will be limited, as one would expect.

Social landlords should be able to make best use of their stock in a way which satisfactorily meets the needs of their local area. Cutting down fraud is a key part of ensuring that this happens. Many landlords have stepped up their efforts and are now giving this matter the attention it deserves, but it is only right—I do not know whether there has been an oversight up to now—that there is proper legislation to support their work, as well as criminal procedures and penalties. That is what has been missing in order to underline the seriousness of this matter: they have been civil penalties up to now.

I was asked a couple of questions, but noble Lords will know that it is the mover of a Private Member’s Bill who answers those. I shall therefore not steal my noble friend’s thunder; I reiterate that we support what she says, and I am grateful that, so far, the House has indicated that it supports it too.