Housing: New Homes Bonus Debate

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Baroness Royall of Blaisdon

Main Page: Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Labour - Life peer)

Housing: New Homes Bonus

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon Excerpts
Tuesday 29th January 2013

(11 years, 9 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Baroness Hanham Portrait Baroness Hanham
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My Lords, I am always grateful to my noble friend, because he knows the figures, and he has given them on several occasions. They show that the north-east is in fact working very hard to produce new housing. Of course, he is right: the new homes bonus is not specifically given for housing; it is given as a contribution to areas where new housing has been built. Refurbishing a new library to help with the increased population seems to me to be a perfectly acceptable use of that money.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon Portrait Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
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My Lords, the noble Baroness said that the Government hold no national statistics on the impact of the new homes bonus. I wonder whether they have any statistics that show the impact on housing associations, region by region, of the bedroom tax. I speak as someone who lives in the Forest of Dean, and my own housing association, Two Rivers Housing, is being severely impacted by the bedroom tax.

Baroness Hanham Portrait Baroness Hanham
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My Lords, I have said that we do not keep regional statistics. We do not have regions any more; we have local areas. The regions are not recognised. We work on local areas now, which is far more exact and precise. I do not know the exact answer to the noble Baroness’s question about bedroom tax, but I am very happy to write to her.