Under-occupancy Penalty (Nottingham) Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Work and Pensions
Julie Hilling
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Under-occupancy Penalty (Nottingham)
Julie Hilling Excerpts(11 years, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Steve Webb
I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will forgive me if I continue to respond to the points raised by the hon. Member for Nottingham South.
Why is it acceptable to restrict private sector tenants on a low income, but okay to allow social tenants to have a spare room?
Steve Webb
I hope that the House will forgive me, but I want to respond to the points raised by the hon. Member for Nottingham South and have limited time to do so.
There is an issue of fairness as between private sector tenants on a low income and social tenants on a low income, but there is also a second issue of fairness. Our estimates for Nottingham are ballpark figures—the hon. Lady is right to say that we do not have exact figures for her constituency, but we do have regional figures and we can estimate overcrowding—but we estimate that of the order of 2,000 or so households there are overcrowded.