Helen Goodman
Main Page: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
John Healey
The hon. Lady raises an interesting point. If she looks at the Homes and Communities Agency data, they will confirm—as my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts), a member of the Select Committee, said at DCLG questions yesterday—that more than eight in 10 of the social homes and council homes built under the hon. Lady’s Government over the last five years were started and funded under the Labour programme.
Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland) (Lab)
Before my right hon. Friend moves on from the point about speculation, is he aware that the largest amount of foreign money coming into the London property market is from Russia and the average price Russians pay is £6.3 million?
John Healey
That detail had escaped me, but I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for mentioning it.
Brandon Lewis
I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will want to explain what he means by rogue developers. Certainly, I want to ensure that good quality developers are building the houses that we need across the country for the people who need them.
Helen Goodman
I thank the Minister for giving way. May I suggest that he speaks to Mr Toon, the economic director of the National Crime Agency, who says that,
“the London property market has been skewed by laundered money.”
He said that prices are being artificially driven up through the use of the proceeds of crime. If he wants to do something, he should just pick up the phone.
Brandon Lewis
Obviously, I would be happy to support anybody who is looking to crack down on crime in London. Equally, I know that the hon. Lady seems to think that affordable houses in London start at £6 million. That may be so for those on the Labour Benches, but not for those of us on the Government Benches.