Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Corbyn and Lord Foster of Bath

Monday 17th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Lab)]

18. What steps he plans to take to increase the supply of council housing.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Don Foster)]

We have clear plans to increase the supply of affordable housing, including that provided by councils. We are investing a total of £19.5 billion of public and private money in an affordable homes programme, to deliver 170,000 new affordable homes through registered providers, including local authorities. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will join me in welcoming our announcement of a further £300 million, combined with our loan guarantees, to deliver a further 15,000 affordable homes and bring an additional 5,000 empty properties back into use.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

Will the Minister join me in congratulating my own local authority and other Labour-controlled authorities that have managed to build council housing at the present time? Will he also recognise that until now, council tenancies have been the most secure form of tenancy in the country and have provided a stable home for many families, and that that is the best way out of the housing crisis? Will he stop using the word “affordable” and start talking about council housing at fair rents?

[Mr Foster]

What I will do is tell the hon. Gentleman that during the last three years of the Labour Government, the number of social houses fell by 421,000. I hope that he is delighted that the number of completions of social houses in his constituency has gone up significantly in the last 12 months, and that he will welcome the additional funds we are making available—funding that his local authority failed to join in with when the Homes and Communities Agency offered it.[Official Report, 16 October 2012, Vol. 551, c. 1MC.]