Housing and Planning Bill

Lord Whitty Excerpts

Tuesday 26th January 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Whitty (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her calm and clear exposition of the Bill. For more than 10 years I have lambasted successive Governments about the depth of the housing crisis every time we have had a housing debate in this House. I am glad the Government at least recognise the need to step up drastically the number of new houses and dwellings being provided. However, I am afraid that I cannot be as calm as the Minister because I think this Bill is not just a missed opportunity but is, in large part, seriously misconceived and will not deliver the improvement in supply that the Government’s strategy has already identified.

If that sounds a bit partisan, I do not blame this Government for the depth of the housing crisis. For the last 30 years, I have criticised Governments of every complexion and blamed them for their failure to ensure that adequate numbers of houses are built. I blame them for their failure to match right to buy—which I agree with—with new social housing provision. I blame them for the failure of regional policies to relieve the pressure on London and the south-east. I blame them for the massive growth in housing benefit which is, in practice, the way we are paying for all these failures and dysfunctions. I blame them for denying local authorities the ability to provide social solutions and housing of all types. Underlying this—which may be uncomfortable—I blame the mind-set and lifestyle of some of our policy makers, and those who advise them, and their attitude to the people who live in social housing.

This House now has to consider a Bill of 193 clauses, 20 schedules and, no doubt, vast reams of secondary legislation. Many of the clauses have not been properly considered and received cursory—if any—scrutiny in the Commons. A Bill of this size really ought to have been the opportunity to tackle this issue comprehensively. Instead, it concentrates on changes in tenure and relatively minor changes in conditions of tenure—some of which have serious consequences—and only to a limited extent on the nature of the houses supplied. It will not deliver a significant increase in that supply. Unfortunately, it does so in a way that will increase social division, put the squeeze on social housing, undermine social cohesion and inhibit aspiration and self-improvement for those who live in social housing. At the same time, it will sabotage the financial basis of both housing associations and local authorities, and in a way that centralises decision making and undermines local planning.

The previous coalition Government started with a purpose in the Localism Bill. It was very weak, but commendable in principle. Most of what has happened in relation to housing and planning since then has gone in the opposite direction. This Bill gives 34 additional powers to the Secretary of State, mostly to override local authorities in the planning system. It instructs local authorities on what kind of homes they should build; for example, starter homes rather than using Section 106 to build a mix of housing. It requires local authorities to sell off their own highest value properties. It fails to allow local authorities—even the much-vaunted new joint authorities, to which we are supposed to be devolving strategic powers—the ability to raise money to build new homes of any tenure. It requires local authorities to divest themselves of some of their land. It requires local authorities and, indeed, housing associations, to charge higher rents to those households who better themselves in terms of earned income. It overrides planning system decisions and requires the virtual privatisation of parts of local planning departments.

I accept it is not all in one direction: there are a few things which the Bill deregulates and decentralises, but those tend to reflect the prejudices of the saloon bar. The Government are removing various laws on the environment and quality of housing and, as others have said, on providing adequate accommodation for Travellers and so forth. However, the powers to override the planning system are writ large in the Bill.

Other noble Lords have described movingly and in detail the socially damaging effects of some of this Bill’s provisions; I will just mention three. First is the effect of dramatic increases in rent for households with an income of more than £30,000—£40,000 in London—which is less than half what is needed to put down a deposit on an average house in London. This goes directly against the Government’s encouragement of work and aspiration. If the householder gets promoted to a better-paid job; if a second parent goes out to work as the children grow up; if the teenager leaves school and gets a job; then, because the family income will go up, the rent will move to market levels. In many parts of the country, market levels will not be affordable. This is effectively a marginal rate of taxation, far higher than that faced by the super-rich, which will simply force people out of their homes. Secondly, the abolition of security of tenure for all new social tenants, replacing it with a two to five-year tenancy, will both add to family insecurity and detract seriously from community cohesion.

One thing not directly in the Bill but which the noble Baroness, Lady Gardner of Parkes, reminded me of, is that although some estates need demolishing and regenerating, many have vibrant and cohesive communities—most of mixed tenure, these days. To judge by what happened in the past, if they are simply demolished, tenants will lose their homes and leaseholders will be displaced and undercompensated for their homes, undermining their ability to find alternative accommodation. We are thus changing, particularly in our inner cities, the nature of housing and the kind of people we provide housing for. The same applies in a different sense in rural areas. There is a degree of social cleansing here. It is an ugly word but there is enough truth in it to bear the House looking at it.

I hope the House can improve the Bill. There are bits I approve of and which need strengthening, but as a whole it is a serious missed opportunity, which could be very damaging to some of the poorer and low-income families in our country. I hope the Government will listen to arguments for change and that the final Bill will look very different from this one.