Deregulation Bill

Lord Stoneham of Droxford Excerpts

Thursday 30th October 2014 Grand Committee

Even without changing our definition, I urge support for the amendment. Work by the consultancy firm Capital Economics, which surveyed economists, fund managers and credit ratings analysts, concluded that there would not be any significant reaction from the markets to an increase in borrowing of £7 billion over five years resulting from lifting the borrowing cap. It is a matter of all hands on deck and we desperately need councils to be part of the picture. For those that are ready to go and those that would gear up if given the helpful nudge this amendment provides, I ask both the Government and the opposition parties to be a little braver in allowing local authorities to do what we know they can do extremely well.

[Lord Stoneham of Droxford (LD)]

My Lords, I am pleased to support the thinking behind the amendments proposed by the noble Lords, Lord McKenzie and Lord Best. In fact, I agree 100% particularly with what the noble Lord, Lord Best, was saying in the detail of what is now required in the social housing sector. It has been one of the frustrations of this Government to get the number of houses up. Indeed, as the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, said, every Government have been frustrated with their idealistic objectives in this area. It is perhaps not surprising that after the huge damage of the recession in the housing and building sector it has been slow to respond, although many of us from an early stage have been saying that this was an even stronger argument for a more positive stimulus to social housing construction.

We are encouraged under this Government that it looks as though we will end up with a larger stock of social housing than we had before, but it is still not enough. The figures disappoint when set against the need and the potential to meet that need. We have to hold the Government to account on this, particularly as this is the fourth change in the right-to-buy policy in the last two years. It can be supported only if it ensures that we get a one-for-one replacement so, as one social house is sold, one replaces it. There are particular difficulties—as the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, said—for housing associations dealing with preserved stock in terms of the money they then have to build new homes once somebody has exercised the right to buy. We will want some assurances from the Government on that. There is a danger in reducing the eligibility to three years to buy houses that people will increasingly see the need to get into social housing, not to meet necessarily their social need but to ensure they then end up buying a house at a discount. That is not the purpose of our social housing.

The noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, asked the Government to reveal if they can—or at least say when the latest set of figures will be available to show—how many homes have been sold and how many new social homes have started. We have the figures for 2012 and 2013 and we are six months now from the end of the financial year. I hope the Minister will be able to provide some figures which will be encouraging to us and if not, will tell us when those figures will be available. I remind the Committee—and indeed remind the Government—that it has always been one of the objectives of the right-to-buy policy initiative under this Government that we build more houses to meet social need, and that is what we have to hold them to account for.

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I hope that that answers the various questions and I urge the noble Lord to withdraw the amendment. I reiterate my promise to answer the detailed questions raised.

[Lord Stoneham of Droxford]

Before the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, responds, may I apologise to the Committee? I meant to declare my interest as chair of Housing & Care 21 but failed to do so. I would like to put that on the record.

[Lord McKenzie of Luton]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply and the noble Lords, Lord Best and Lord Stoneham, for their contributions to this debate. I look forward to receiving the figures in due course from the Minister. I was not quite sure whether in his response he was saying that the Government are currently meeting their one-for-one guarantee. It would be helpful to know if that is the Government’s position.