Private Rented Sector

Debate between Nick Boles and Graham P Jones

Wednesday 25th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Nick Boles]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her intervention, as it is what I think is known as a soft ball, because this Government have of course done a great deal more than previous Governments to pull institutional investment into this sector. We have already identified in excess of £10 billion of equity that people are looking to invest in this sector. We have a £1 billion Build to Rent fund. We have £3 billion of guarantees for the private rented sector. The precise point here is that we will have some chance of pulling institutional long-term investment into higher-quality rental property if such investors have confidence that the rules of that market are not going to suddenly change and they are not going to suddenly find themselves being faced with unpredictable costs and capped rents. That is how we get institutional investment in, and it is precisely the opposite of what the Labour party is proposing.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

The Minister is making a fundamental point: he is saying that rents are indexed to capital values. Is that correct?

[Nick Boles]

I am not saying anything as complicated as that. I am a bear of a fairly simple brain, and I am simply saying that if someone cannot control their costs and is faced with capped or controlled revenues, that is a very risky environment and there are lots of other places where they can put their money, and we will see rental property returning to how it was until the housing legislation was changed: falling as a contributor to our economy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Boles and Graham P Jones

Monday 20th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Nick Boles]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Betting shops are significant local employers and can make a significant contribution to the local economy, but it is also right that local authorities can look at local conditions and apply an article 4 direction where they feel that local impacts merit it.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

The Minister says that the number of such properties has fallen, but the fall is only marginal and the figure is about the same. However, the issue, which he has not addressed, is that turnover and profits have increased dramatically. The precautionary principle was applied at the beginning of this month when the Minister said that splash screens would be put in to control the amount that players play. Is the Government’s policy not a complete shambles?

[Nick Boles]

This is from the party that presented gambling as the chief source of regeneration for inner cities in the north, and that wanted to introduce super-casinos to turn around central Manchester and Liverpool. It is humbug. [Interruption.]

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Boles and Graham P Jones

Monday 25th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Nick Boles)]

I have good news for my hon. Friend. Of those units that already have planning permission, building has started on 49% of them. Now, 72% of the rest are moving towards making a start, up from 58% at the end of 2011. That means that only 23% are now on hold. We have made funds available through the Get Britain Building investment fund and the local infrastructure investment fund to help get stalled sites moving.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

T6. Some moments ago, the Housing Minister said in response to my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton North East (Emma Reynolds) that the new homes bonus is not a payment for building new houses. Will he explain what it is for?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Boles and Graham P Jones

Monday 12th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Nick Boles]

I reassure my hon. Friend that if councils go through the proper process of forming policies and a local plan under the NPPF, they have nothing to fear from appeals to the Planning Inspectorate, which upholds the decision of local authorities in 65% of cases and can award costs against applicants who conduct themselves unreasonably in launching such appeals.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

In a recent survey, one in four tenants reported that they had been ripped off by letting agents. Do the Government recognise that and, if so, what are they going to do about it?