Housing and Planning Bill
Debate between Catherine West and Teresa Pearce
Teresa Pearce
I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. The rogue landlord proposals in the Bill and the banning orders are responses after the fact. We want to improve standards so that people do not end up needing banning orders, and do not have to go through the trauma of living in substandard accommodation. Such accommodation often makes people unwell and unfit to work; it lowers their productivity and hampers their children’s education.
Catherine West
Does my hon. Friend accept that it is also terrible when housing benefit is paid on such properties so that in some cases it is almost state-sponsored squalor?
Teresa Pearce
I could not agree more. In Committee we tabled an amendment that asked local authorities to report quarterly to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs on all housing benefit paid, so that some of the landlords who are literally putting money in their back pocket and not providing a decent service could be caught. Unfortunately, that amendment was not accepted.