Oral Answers to Questions

Dominic Raab Excerpts

Monday 22nd January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Neil Parish (Tiverton and Honiton) (Con)]

5. What steps the Government are taking to increase the number of affordable homes in rural areas.

[The Minister for Housing (Dominic Raab)]

More than 119,000 affordable homes have been delivered in rural communities since 2010. Homes England has invested £142 million in the rural affordable homes programme schemes in the past four years, which is around 9% of total spend.

[Neil Parish]

I very much welcome those figures on affordable homes. There are redundant farm building sites, which could be classed as brownfield sites. If they were, that would release a lot more land for affordable homes. Will the Minister consider that, please?

[Dominic Raab]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right: we have introduced a requirement for each local authority to publish registers of brownfield land. More than 90% of local authorities have done so, and the information to date suggests that nearly 16,500 brownfield sites covering 26,000 hectares have already been identified in England alone.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

As well as helping rural areas, what is the Minister going to do for places such as Birmingham? How will he respond to the council’s request for additional assistance with the provision of new homes, essential maintenance on existing properties and the discharge of statutory obligations, such as health and safety and annual gas inspections?

[Dominic Raab]

Since 2010, we have delivered more than 370,000 new affordable homes, but of course we are ambitious to do more—working with housing associations and local mayors such as Andy Street. Of course, we have raised the housing revenue account borrowing cap for local authorities to give them greater flexibility.

[Sir Patrick McLoughlin (Derbyshire Dales) (Con)]

In welcoming my hon. Friend to his new role, may I ask him to look, with the intellectual vigour that I know he has, into what national parks do to supply affordable homes? They are not exempt from the need.

[Dominic Raab]

My right hon. Friend has considerable experience, both as a Minister and as a long-standing Member. We will certainly look into all such matters because we are absolutely committed to using every lever that we possibly can to increase home building in this country for the next generation.

[Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)]

One of the best ways to provide more affordable homes to rent in rural and, indeed, urban areas is through the provision of more co-operative housing. What further co-operative housing initiatives are the Minister and his Department thinking of pursuing?

[Dominic Raab]

The hon. Gentleman is right, and a lot of social housing is of a co-operative nature. It particularly depends on any given community’s specific needs, which are often for the local authorities to help to identify. Local authorities in rural areas need to focus on the particular needs of their communities. For example, some areas have rural exception sites, which provide long-term protection for affordable homes in rural areas.

[Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)]

6. What progress his Department has made on supporting the economies of coastal communities.

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[Scott Mann (North Cornwall) (Con)]

7. What steps he is taking to promote self-build housing projects in the south-west.

[The Minister for Housing (Dominic Raab)]

The Government are promoting a step change in self-build through the £4.5 billion home-building fund and the 2016 self-build regulations.

[Scott Mann]

I welcome the Minister to his place. May I just ask him what discussions he has had with the Treasury regarding the continuation of the community housing fund to deliver more local houses for people in Cornwall?

[Dominic Raab]

My hon. Friend is right to raise this issue. The community housing fund was worth £60 million in its first year. In the context of the Budget in November, we announced that it would be continuing for a further three years. That includes capital and revenue funding, and it is part of the Government’s drive to support community groups bringing forward home-build projects.

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

8. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on outcomes for looked-after children.

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[Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood) (Lab)]

16. What recent assessment he has made of trends in the number of new homes for social rent since 2010.

[The Minister for Housing (Dominic Raab)]

We have delivered 357,000 affordable homes since 2010—more than in the preceding seven years. That includes 257,000 for rent and 128,000 for social rent.

[Afzal Khan]

Will the Secretary of State adopt Labour’s plans to lift the borrowing cap on councils’ housing revenue accounts, which could alone build 80,000 council homes, according to the Local Government Association?

[Dominic Raab]

We are not going to take on Labour’s plans in this area or any other, because frankly they are not sustainable. We are going to increase the affordable homes budget to £9 billion up to 2021. We are restless to deliver more affordable homes, including for social rent. The hon. Gentleman may like to know that in the past year there were 1,100 new housing starts in Manchester, and we are talking to the Mayor of Manchester about the housing deal, which will include a social housing component.

[Helen Hayes]

Whichever way Ministers try to present the figures, the number of genuinely affordable social homes built with public sector grants on their watch is pitiful. If the Minister will not accept Labour’s policy, will he accept the recommendation of the Treasury Committee by lifting the borrowing cap on councils’ housing revenue accounts completely to enable councils to build desperately needed council homes—or will he confirm that only a Labour Government will take the action that we need on council housing?

[Dominic Raab]

The record speaks for itself. We have delivered 357,000 more affordable homes since 2010—more than in the preceding seven years under the previous Labour Government. We are raising the cap; we did that in the last Budget. We are also creating a stable financial envelope for local authorities and housing associations with long-term rent deals: the settlement is CPI plus 1%. That is the sustainable way to drive home building in this country.

[Mr Mark Prisk (Hertford and Stortford) (Con)]

18. What progress his Department has made on enabling the development of surplus public land for housing.

[The Minister for Housing (Dominic Raab)]

Between 2011 and 2015, Government land was sold with the capacity to deliver up to 109,000 new homes.

[Mr Prisk]

Some Labour councils, particularly in London, own hundreds of acres of surplus land. May I urge the new Minister to challenge those Labour authorities so that we can turn that land into family homes?

[Dominic Raab]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. In the 2015 autumn statement, the Chancellor set out our aim to release enough Government land by 2020 for 160,000 extra homes to be built. The Government are providing local authorities with money to help to facilitate that. I met Nick Walkley, the CEO of Homes England, last week to make sure that we get cracking on this top priority.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

21. What recent assessment he has made of trends in the number of households in temporary accommodation.

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[Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con)]

T9. Does my hon. Friend agree that the ability to buy a home at an affordable price is vital to developing and enhancing social mobility and to realising the Government’s goals on aspiration and opportunity? Does he also agree that we must massively increase house building and speed up the process right across the country?

[The Minister for Housing (Dominic Raab)]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We delivered 217,000 new homes last year, which is 50% more than the last year of the last Labour Government. We want to get that level up to 300,000. We have planning reform, release of public sector land and targeted funding to achieve that, which is crucial for key workers, the next generation and those on low and middle incomes.

[Karen Lee (Lincoln) (Lab)]

T5. City of Lincoln Council is aiming to build 500 homes in the next five years to help to tackle its waiting list of more than 1,000 house- holds. If the Government will not consider raising the borrowing cap on local housing revenue accounts, how do they plan to tackle the shortage of truly affordable rented housing?

[Dominic Raab]

We have, of course, raised the cap by £1 billion. It needs to be done in a responsible way, because we have to consider the amount of debt that has been taken on, but we will keep it under review. That is one aspect of the huge drive towards building the extra homes we need. I have talked about some of those issues, including targeted funding and release of public sector land. We want to make sure that we get up to the annual target of 300,000 as soon as possible.

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[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor provided money in the Budget for a national rental deposit scheme. What plans does the Department have to introduce that scheme, and how many families does it believe it will assist?

[Dominic Raab]

We are certainly looking at that as part of our wider strategy, which I have already described. I am very happy to write to my hon. Friend about its particular impact on his constituency.

[Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)]

T8. I find the level of rough sleeping in Chesterfield and across the country deeply humiliating as an MP, and it infuriates and disgusts my constituents. When Ministers walk past people living in sleeping bags, do they believe that it is the halving of councils’ Supporting People budget or the £5 billion cut to housing benefit that is most responsible for this national scar on our society?

[Eddie Hughes (Walsall North) (Con)]

I am delighted that the new Housing Minister has agreed to work with me to improve tenant safety in respect of carbon monoxide poisoning. Does he agree with the National Landlords Association and Headway, a brain injury charity, that more needs to be done to protect the public at large from death or injury through carbon monoxide poisoning?

[Dominic Raab]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on the tenacious way he has built the campaign. We will certainly listen to all voices on this issue. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to sit down with him to talk about his private Member’s Bill. We share the aim to make progress on carbon monoxide in both the key areas of his Bill. I look forward to working with him in future.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

T10. Gateshead Council, of which I am a member, has seen its Government funding cut by 52% since 2010. Fifty per cent. of its budget is spent on vulnerable children and adult social care and demand is rising. With over 90% of our properties in council tax bands A to C, the social care precept does not go near addressing the shortfall. Will the Secretary of State urgently address the shortfall in funding for children and adult social care in Gateshead and elsewhere now, and will he produce a truly fair—

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[Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth) (Lab)]

If the Treasury Committee can recognise the social and fiscal benefits of removing the council house building borrowing cap completely, why cannot the Government?

[Dominic Raab]

Of course, the borrowing cap has been raised by £1 billion, but it has to be done sustainably. We remain open-minded, however, and are keeping it under review.

[Mr Ranil Jayawardena (North East Hampshire) (Con)]

With Holocaust Memorial Day this week, does my right hon. Friend agree that on both sides of the House we really need to face up to anti-Semitism wherever we see it and whatever form it takes?

[Gloria De Piero (Ashfield) (Lab)]

Too many people moving into brand-new homes on brand-new housing estates struggle with poor or no wi-fi. Will Ministers work with developers to ensure that the necessary infrastructure is in place when these houses are being built?

[Dominic Raab]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right to raise that issue. We have worked with local authorities and developers, but also with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in relation to that.