Housing Supply

Debate between Kris Hopkins and Sheila Gilmore

Wednesday 9th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Kris Hopkins]

It is clear that the hon. Lady’s party does not care about the economy of this country. It is quite happy to add to the deficit that was created by the last Administration. This Government have taken opportunities to raise the housing revenue account cap by some £300 million, and we look forward to seeing those houses being built.

More council houses have been built in the last four years, under this Government, than were built in the previous 13 years. As a result of the right to buy, some 19,000 hard-working individuals and their families have secured their own homes. That rejuvenated scheme has delivered some 10,000 more homes than was predicted, and we have promised to provide a replacement for every house that is sold. So far, some 3,000 new council houses have been built with right-to-buy receipts.

[Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)]

Will the Minister explain why housing associations are being required not only to let newly built homes at 80% of market rent, but to turn over part of our existing stock as it becomes vacant and let it at that level of rent in order to obtain a building grant at all?

[Kris Hopkins]

What is of key importance is for local authorities and housing associations to understand their stock, and to redesign, restructure and, where necessary, rebuild it to reflect local demand. [Interruption.] That is the answer.

So far, receipts from right-to-buy sales have ensured that some £420 million is available for the building of houses. We want councils to build them more quickly, and we are pushing them to do so, but I think that the Government should be extremely proud of the fact that 3,000 new homes have already been delivered as a result of the extra growth that generated those 10,000 sales.

In the Budget, the Chancellor announced that £300 million in HRA funding would be provided so that more council houses could be built. The prospectus has gone out, and we have received some responses. We will keep pushing councils to deliver those houses. Whatever the tenure, whether we are talking about private, affordable or social housing, this Government want to support the housing industry that is delivering it.

One of the tragedies that came out of the 2008 housing crash and the resulting recession, the deepest since the 1920s, was the loss of jobs. Some 250,000 people—a quarter of a million—lost their livelihoods: their wage packets disappeared. Many thousands of small and medium-sized building and construction firms were lost as a consequence of the dying days of the last Labour Administration, and the loss of that capacity—a direct result of the crash—is still being felt today. That is why the Government want to attract more young apprentices to the sector to secure the future of the housing and construction industry. Thousands of the 1.8 million apprentices whom the Government have supported so far—some 14,000 of them in the building and construction industry alone—are now the plumbers, chippies and brickies who are required to build the houses.

We have put together a builders fund worth a quarter of a billion pounds to support those small and medium-sized businesses, and we are ensuring that they can gain access to it so that they can build on smaller sites. A bidding process is about to end, and we look forward to making announcements in the future. We need to increase capacity, and to do that we need skills—the skills that were lost.

Housing

Debate between Kris Hopkins and Sheila Gilmore

Wednesday 8th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Kris Hopkins]

If we did not have a £180 billion deficit, we might be in a better position to offer more public subsidy, but we do not have that opportunity because the last Government nearly bankrupted the country.

[Sheila Gilmore]

rose—

[Kris Hopkins]

No, I will not take any more interventions.

One of the common themes of this debate was that, as the hon. Member for Blyth Valley (Mr Campbell) recognised, Labour did not deliver enough housing while in power. My hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (Mark Pawsey) is a huge supporter of housing growth, and I know from my conversations with him that he is committed to ensuring that local communities shape their own housing. I look forward to further debates about large-scale housing, which I know he greatly supports. On land banking, he said that confiscating land was not the way forward and that if Labour’s policy was implemented, it would result in fewer houses being built.

The hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Austin Mitchell) said many things and recognised that Labour did not deliver enough houses, but he also referred to his garden shed. My hon. Friend the Member for Elmet and Rothwell (Alec Shelbrooke) talked about local plans and a strong local voice, and I know that he is a powerful voice in his community. The right hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Sir Andrew Stunell) talked about localism and the increasing number of social houses. He also pointed out that Labour delivered 50% of its desire to get rid of boom and bust—it got rid of the boom bit. [Laughter.] I am sorry for stealing the line. [Interruption.]

Under-Occupancy Penalty

Debate between Kris Hopkins and Sheila Gilmore

Tuesday 5th November 2013 Westminster Hall

[Kris Hopkins]

Let me say that Labour presided over a period of massive boom, yet it still managed to secure fewer affordable houses by the end of that period—420,000 houses. I appreciate the aspiration, but now I want to make some further comments and respond to the Members who have spoken.

The hon. Members for Edinburgh East (Sheila Gilmore), for Inverclyde (Mr McKenzie) and for Wolverhampton North East (Emma Reynolds) talked about arrears. That is a matter that we are watching and we are keen to understand the consequences of the new system. A review will be published next spring that will help us in that regard.

The hon. Members for Edinburgh East jested about portaloos and outside toilets. In the lead-up to the 2010 general election, I visited a house with an outside toilet. They are not a fantasy, or even an issue to jest about; they exist. Some of the housing stock out there is appalling, which leads me to the meat of my speech.

[Sheila Gilmore]

Will the Minister clarify whether some of the worst housing is in the private rented sector? As far as I am aware, in my city and throughout Scotland, no homes in the housing association and council sector have outside toilets.