Kris Hopkins
Main Page: Kris Hopkins (Conservative - Keighley)
Mike Thornton (Eastleigh) (LD)
1. What steps his Department is taking to tackle rogue landlords.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Kris Hopkins)
We are determined to crack down on the small number of rogue landlords who neglect their properties and exploit their tenants. We have provided £6.5 million to local authorities and have recently published a discussion paper on improving property conditions in the private rented sector that focuses on tackling rogue landlords.
Mike Thornton
I am pleased that the Government are taking action on this issue, which affects so many of my Eastleigh constituents. Will the Minister assure me that, as part of the review, he will give adequate consideration to ensuring that rented homes are fitted with life-saving fire and carbon monoxide detectors, particularly as adequate regulations regarding electrical safety in rented houses are sadly lacking?
Kris Hopkins
I can reassure the House that the review will consider both smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. We will also consider whether landlords should be required to carry out regular checks on electrical installations.
Mr Clive Betts (Sheffield South East) (Lab)
One of the other major problems facing private sector tenants is the actions of letting agents. There was widespread support for the Government’s commitment to a redress scheme, and for the promise made on 20 May last year by the then Housing Minister to have one code of practice to underpin it. However, the Government now say that they cannot go ahead with one code of practice and must rely on voluntary codes, with agents being part of various bodies and with a test of reasonableness in other cases. Why are we not going to have one code of practice? Is it because the Government did not take the necessary powers under the legislation to enable them to do so?
Kris Hopkins
First, the redress scheme will return to the House shortly, and I hope that it will gain all-party support, because it is extremely important for tenants and landlords. Secondly, the code of practice is currently out for consultation and, at the end of that process, we will see what conversations there have been about what shape it should take.
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Lab)
Will the Minister address the serious problem of the exorbitant rents being charged by private sector landlords, particularly in London, and seriously consider introducing a form of regulation so that ordinary people on ordinary incomes are not driven out of the city in which they live?
Kris Hopkins
Rents across the country are at 1.1% at the moment, and in London they have actually fallen, from 1.9% to 1.6% over the last quarter.
Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)
The Minister’s remark about 1.1% and 1.9% is confusing. Perhaps he can illuminate for the House what he means. Certainly, the rents that my constituents—a quarter of them live in private rented accommodation, which very often is substandard—are being charged are rocketing as people move from London to Slough, so how much have rents gone up in areas, such as Slough, around the outside of London?
Kris Hopkins
Quite often the media headlines on rent prices are the advertised rate. The figures I quoted are from the Office for National Statistics, and they are the actual figures tenants are charged after taking up a residency, so they are actually the true figures, rather than those advertised in the media.
Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con)
2. What progress he has made on improving the planning protection afforded to valued and profitable pubs.
Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)
10. What guidance he has issued to local authorities on prioritising (a) members of the armed forces and (b) local residents for social housing; and if he will make a statement.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Kris Hopkins)
I hope that Members on both sides of the House will support the fact that this Government have published guidance strongly encouraging councils to prioritise members of the armed forces and their families for social housing. In December we issued guidance on ensuring that local homes go to local people.
Michael Fabricant
That guidance seems to show remarkable common sense, but what further steps can my hon. Friend take to ensure that housing associations and local councils that allocate housing publish precisely the criteria on which they do so, because they should be answerable to the electorate?
Kris Hopkins
Our new guidance will ensure that only those who have lived in the area for two years or more, or those from a well-established local association, can put their name down on the housing waiting list. The guidance also encourages councils to be more open and transparent about who is applying and how the housing is being allocated in their local area to strengthen public confidence in the allocation system.
Sir Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD)
Next month marks the 40th anniversary of local government reorganisation, when the word “local” was diluted. Does the Minister agree that localism means local councils making local decisions that should not be subject to diktat from central Government?
Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)
11. What steps he is taking to promote neighbourhood planning.
Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)
14. What assessment he has made of the level of rent arrears in social housing.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Kris Hopkins)
The Homes and Communities Agency reported in February that the median level of arrears among larger housing associations in the third quarter of 2013-14 was 3.9%, an improvement on 4.1% in the previous quarter.
Julie Hilling
Nine out of 10 disabled people are cutting back on food or bills to pay the bedroom tax, and many are now falling into rent arrears. If the Minister was in their position, would he fall into debt, or would he cut back on his heating or eating?
Kris Hopkins
There are currently lots of data about arrears, and lots of rhetoric. We have not yet completed a full year, but the Homes and Communities Agency has looked at larger providers, 92% of which say that 95% of the rent they should have collected has been collected.
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
23. Two thirds of households in England affected by the bedroom tax have fallen into rent arrears, and Newcastle is having to set aside money to pay for bad debt that should go on building houses. At the same time, many of my most vulnerable constituents live in fear of falling into arrears. Why will the Government not have a heart, see sense, and repeal this terrible tax?
Kris Hopkins
I, too, am concerned about those vulnerable people, so I asked about what was happening in Newcastle. Rough sleeping is down by a third, and homeless acceptances are down 26%. The number of families in bed and breakfasts for longer than six weeks has remained static: latest figures state that there are no people in B and Bs for more than six weeks.
Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)
15. What assessment he has made of the frequency of the use of article 4 directions by local authorities to restrict the concentration of houses in multiple occupation in residential areas; and if he will make a statement.
Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)
19. What steps he is taking to increase the uptake of right to buy.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Kris Hopkins)
I congratulate my hon. Friend on the excellent sales figures in Harlow, which are already four times higher than they were forecast to be for the year. The reinvigorated right to buy scheme has helped more than 16,200 social tenants to become home owners since it was reintroduced or reinvigorated in April 2012. We are legislating for further right to buy discounts and to reduce the qualifying period from five years to three. We are also putting in place a right to buy agent service that will support tenants through the home buying process.
Robert Halfon
Does my hon. Friend agree that an essential component of social justice is to allow lower earners to own their own home? Is he aware that 74 residents in Harlow have supported my online RightToBuyHarlow.com website to get on the housing ladder? Will the Minister outline how he is communicating with tenants to make even more of them aware of the right to buy opportunities?
Kris Hopkins
The Government remain absolutely committed to ensuring that tenants are aware of, and understand, right to buy. We have sent more than 1 million leaflets to social landlords, and our website had 100,000 visitors in the past month alone. We are continuing to campaign with tenants to ensure that they know their rights on how they can secure their own home.
Mr Speaker
Excellent. We got through the lot. I am most grateful to colleagues for their succinctness. [Interruption.] It is well done to the House.
We come to topical questions. I call Mr Dave Watts.
Mr Andrew Love (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op)
T2. When his party was in opposition, the Prime Minister described homelessness and rough sleeping as a disgrace. Last week the Department published figures which showed that since 2010, rough sleeping had increased by 37%. How would the Minister describe that record?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Kris Hopkins)
Rough sleeping in the country overall has increased by 5%, and it has fallen by 3% in London.
Mr Nick Gibb (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) (Con)
T10. May I again thank the Secretary of State for coming to Pagham last week?On another matter, many park home residents, including many in my constituency, are frequently charged unreasonable management fees by unscrupulous site owners. This Government tightened the legislation to give extra protection to residents so far as pitch fees are concerned, but there is less protection in respect of management fees, which some site owners are now using instead of the pitch fee to extract unreasonable sums of money from their residents. Will my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State look into this issue to see what further protections can be introduced to protect park home residents from predatory site owners?
Kris Hopkins
The Government have introduced a whole range of guidance and rules associated with protecting residents on park home sites, including stopping owners of sites undermining sales on sites, and making sure fees on a site can be introduced only after the exchange of a statutory form; the individual tenant can then seek an arbitrary intervention if they need to. Other steps, such as to do with the rules associated with a particular site, can be taken only after consultation with the tenant. One of our interventions serves as an example: up until now a tenant could not purchase gas bottles from anywhere but on-site; they can now purchase them wherever they want to.
Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)
T6. In Redcar and Cleveland, between 2003 and 2007 the Tory and Liberal Democrat council raised council tax by 25%, and they raised the chief executive’s pay by £60,000 from £83,000 to £143,000 in just four years. Does the Secretary of State support local Tory and Lib Dem councillors doing that?
Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)
Adult victims of human trafficking are looked after centrally through an excellent scheme run by the Salvation Army. Unfortunately, child victims of human trafficking are left to local government to look after and are quite often re-trafficked within a week of being rescued. Will the Secretary of State look at the possibility of removing that role from local government and bringing it under a central plan, as we do for adult victims?
Kris Hopkins
I will take on board what my hon. Friend says, but may I just reassure him that this Government have allocated £4.1 million to tackling rogue landlords, and human trafficking is one area in which the authorities are intervening, so work is being done on that?
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
T7. Residents, constituents and firefighters from across Newcastle are writing to me shocked and angered by the proposed closure of Gosforth fire station. Before the Prime Minister was elected to office, he promised that front-line services would not be impacted, but this Government are cutting Tyne and Wear fire authority’s budget by 23% by 2017. How on earth does the Secretary of State believe it can lose a quarter of its funding without that having an impact on front-line services?