Homelessness Reduction Bill

Gill Furniss Excerpts

2nd reading: House of Commons
Friday 28th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Gill Furniss (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) on all the hard work he has done on the Bill, and on approaching the issue in an inclusive cross-party way. However strongly I feel that his party in government has a lot to answer for when it comes to homelessness, I know that none of that attaches to him personally. I am glad to see that such a worthy cause has such an effective champion.

I also congratulate the members of the Communities and Local Government Committee on dedicating their time to the Bill—by questioning the Minister on the draft Bill and going through it with a fine-toothed comb, they have put some real weight behind it. I sincerely hope that the Bill will provide an example of how Back Benchers can make a real change when they go about their business in the right way.

Homelessness is one of the insidious problems that any civilised country has to deal with. As politicians of whatever party, we all talk about changing the country for the better and improving people’s life chances. We may disagree about how to build our prosperity, but we should surely all agree that when someone has no stable roof over their head or, worse, is sleeping on the street, all our rhetoric will count for nothing. Every family facing eviction with no place to go and every rough sleeper represents our collective failure to do better as a society.

I do not accept for a moment that homelessness is “just one of those things”—a problem that will always be with us, so we should just accept it. Government can do something about it, if there is a will. We should just look at what happened when Labour was last in office. We set up the rough sleepers unit within the Cabinet Office; and we increased the funding for homelessness services through the supporting people programme and the hostels capital improvement programme. The Homelessness Act 2002 extended councils’ legal duty to provide stable accommodation to 16 and 17-year- olds, care leavers, ex-servicemen and women, those leaving prison and the victims of domestic violence. By requiring local authorities to put together homelessness strategies and by encouraging early intervention, the focus began to shift towards prevention.

With the stock of affordable housing dwindling, private rentals have been the key means by which those not classed as a homelessness priority seek to put a roof over their own heads, but rising demand has seen private rents soar over the last six years by an average of £2,000 extra a year by comparison with 2010. Local housing rates rarely reflect the reality of rising rents, leaving those on low incomes in a precarious position. Six years ago, only 14% of homelessness cases accepted by councils were due to the end of the shorthold tenancy; now that figure is 30%—far and away the most common reason why households find themselves facing homelessness. Put simply, people on low incomes are being priced out of the market—a situation made worse by landlords’ reluctance to rent to people on housing benefit. Last year, a survey of local authorities that were at the sharp end of this problem found that two thirds of them linked rising homelessness to welfare cuts, and three quarters expect the roll-out of universal credit to push even more into homelessness.

I am glad that the Government have delayed this travesty over the tenancies of supported housing, now to include homeless shelters and women’s refuges, and that they have agreed support for short-term accommodation. Surely, however, the Minister can see that this cut will only increase homelessness. I urge him to look at this issue again and make sure that permanent funding is in place—and not just until 2019.

Concerns have been raised about the strain that the extra duties of the Bill will place on councils, and I share those concerns. Having been a councillor in Sheffield for more than 17 years, I am well aware of the strain put on local authorities by Tory austerity cuts. If the changes brought about by the Bill are to have any impact, they must be fully funded. If anyone is still in doubt, I simply point to the example set for us by the Labour Government in Wales, who have had very similar legislation in effect since April last year. After a year, 45% of homeless households were found secure accommodation for at least six months, and two thirds of households assessed as threatened with homelessness had that prevented for at least six months. There has also been a significant drop in the number of households in temporary accommodation.

However, the Welsh Government have not stopped there. They are funding affordable housing, both to rent and to buy; they are protecting the Supporting People programme; and, unlike the Government here at Westminster, they are not forcing local authorities to sell vacant homes to the highest bidder. In other words, they are serious about tackling both homelessness and its underlying causes.

I welcome the Minister’s support for the Bill, but I urge him, too, not to stop there. I urge him to see the Bill not merely as a sticking plaster, but as a starting point for a better housing strategy. Let us provide support for those who find themselves homeless, let us assist those who have the threat of homelessness hanging over them, but let us also work to remove that threat from so many of our constituents who have been let down by six years of failed housing policy.