Decent Homes

Peter Bone Excerpts

Thursday 27th January 2011 Westminster Hall

[Ann Coffey (Stockport) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Bone. I welcome the report of the Select Committee on Communities and Local Government, “Beyond Decent Homes”, which was published in March 2010 under the chairmanship of Dr Phyllis Starkey.

There is no doubt that the decent homes programme introduced under the Labour Government in 2002 was successful in bringing many improvements to the homes of social tenants. Stockport Homes, my local ALMO, has been one of the trailblazers in delivering the decent homes programme. Indeed, members of the Select Committee visited properties managed by Stockport Homes in my constituency as part of their inquiry. They also held an evidence session in Stockport town hall. Stockport Homes was chosen for a visit because Dr Starkey said it was

“a successful, high performing ALMO pioneering a range of innovative strategies to upgrade their social housing stock”.

In my constituency at the time of the 2001 census, which is somewhat out of date, 21% of households were in housing with social landlords. Social housing is therefore an important provision for my constituents. Stockport Homes currently manages 11,478 properties for Stockport council and has now reached the decent homes standard on 100% of its homes. In fact, it has consistently gone further than the basic decent homes standards. It has included showers as a standard bathroom improvement, floor and wall tiling, full redecoration, smoke alarms, double-glazed windows and extra electrical sockets. I visited one of my constituents, Mr Alfred Heathcote from Brinnington, last year after he had his bathroom and kitchen replaced. He was clearly delighted, especially as his wife is disabled, and he showed us the special walk-in shower that had been provided.

Prior to the general election I conducted extensive surveys asking my constituents for their views on the modernisations and improvements carried out to their homes, including bathrooms and kitchens. The overwhelming majority were happy with the improvements. They also welcomed being given a choice of fittings and design. That is a far cry from my days as a councillor in the early ‘80s as a member of the housing committee on Stockport metropolitan borough council. I well remember a long discussion in one committee about the policy on pot sinks. It appeared that tenants had been deliberately damaging the sinks in order to get modern stainless steel replacements. The council’s view was that that bad behaviour should not be rewarded, and damaged sinks should be replaced with pot sinks to discourage such behaviour, albeit at greater expense. Things are very different now from those days.

In its comments to me about the Select Committee’s report, Stockport Homes has drawn attention to the importance of improving communal areas. It has done a lot to improve communal areas around its properties, on top of the decent homes standard. The work has included hard and soft landscaping schemes, fencing and seating, installing CCTVs, painting, floor covering and lighting in communal areas and replacing lifts. Those programmes of work, which fell outside the minimum standard, were in response to consultations with local people. I agree with the local people and Stockport Homes that the improvement of the communal areas, whether that is landscaping, car parking, security measures or creating community meeting places around people’s homes, is very important in creating a feel-good factor for people about where they live. It is also important, of course, to keep local people and tenants groups engaged, so that the tenants can feel that such improvements are delivered in the agreed time scale and there is good communication between tenants groups and Stockport Homes.

In Stockport we used to have an estate called Gorsey Bank, which failed and has since been bulldozed in spite of an extensive modernisation programme. The reason for the failure was the lack of provision of a supportive environment, such as good landscaping, adequate security and, especially, community space to deliver services to disadvantaged families, as well as local provision to deal with antisocial behaviour. In the 1990s, Lancashire Hill, which is now in my constituency, was extensively modernised and at that time there was a huge improvement for tenants in their living conditions. However, inadequate communal space was provided as part of that modernisation and it is now difficult to provide support to families on the estate for activities that would make a difference to children’s lives. The experiences on those two estates underline the importance of communal improvements in any decent homes programme.

I also want to draw the attention of the House to the Stockport Homes family intervention project. [Interruption.]

[Mr Peter Bone (in the Chair)]

Order. I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Lady. The danger with electronic devices in the Chamber is that they interfere with the microphones. Perhaps right hon. and hon. Members could make sure they do not have an electronic device too near the microphone.

[Ann Coffey]

That project is for families with complex needs who risk being evicted for antisocial behaviour or other reasons. Often, a family evicted from one property simply moves to a property in another area, usually taking their problems with them and disturbing another community.

Since the project started, it has had 34 referrals, 15 of which have met the criteria and been taken on. Eight families have signed up to a full contract, a behaviour support agreement signed by the agencies and each family member. The Stockport Homes intervention project works with other agencies to provide families with support such as parenting classes, help finding training or work, drugs and alcohol help, domestic violence help, social care referral and support for teenage parents. The project has successfully closed two contracts after achieving excellent results: reduced antisocial behaviour, better integration into the community, better parenting skills, reduced domestic violence and increased school attendance. For families needing a fresh start away from the area, the project can set up a family intervention tenancy somewhere else. It provides intense support, including daily visits for the first month and strict rules about complying with advice and assistance. The overall results include quieter, safer communities and a new chance for families to thrive in a different area.

I draw the project to the House’s attention because it is an example of an innovative approach to housing management that recognises that dealing with the behaviour of a minority of tenants and the consequences for the wider community will be effective only if the underlying causes of that behaviour are addressed. Housing management can never involve merely repairing properties and collecting rent. Achieving decent living standards for tenants and the wider community goes much further.

In its comments on the Select Committee report, Stockport Homes said:

“Although we acknowledge the conclusion of the report that there was a need to keep the Decent Homes standard narrow, it could be argued that the emphasis on the fabric of the housing stock and internal components is too narrow. The lack of a standard for communal areas, estate improvements and energy efficiency measures could be seen as missed opportunities which now need to be addressed.”

I agree totally, and welcome the Minister’s comments on the importance of communal areas and energy efficiency measures to the decent homes standard.

I also agree with the Select Committee report about the importance of the green agenda and the call for the decent homes standard for energy efficiency to be updated. The Government’s carbon emissions reduction targets mean that the entire UK housing stock must be made more energy efficient. The decent homes standards have an important part to play and should be updated to enable that.

Stockport Homes has been proactive in its green agenda. As a result of substantial investment in energy efficiency measures, the ALMO is in the top 1% of the standard assessment procedure ratings, which calculate the energy performance of individual dwellings. That is especially important for social housing, as most tenants are on low incomes, meaning that their heating bills form a large proportion of their income. They also face increases in their energy bills.

I am sure that we all agree that the decent homes programme has improved the quality of life of many families in this country. I am keen for it to be maintained and strengthened by ongoing funding. People on low incomes have little choice in their housing, so it is important that the homes that they are offered are of a decent standard, have sustainable energy costs and are situated in a decent environment. Sadly, Stockport has a shortage of social housing, particularly family housing; 7,626 people are on the waiting list. It also has a shortage of affordable homes to buy, creating more reliance on privately rented accommodation. Such housing is overwhelmingly provided by landlords who own a few properties. Indeed, in my constituency, some of those properties are former council houses bought under the right to buy scheme and then sold on.

I understand that we do not want to increase costs to private landlords, due to concerns that if regulations make rented property too expensive for landlords to provide at a reasonable profit, such accommodation will dry up. However, there must be a proper balance between decent standards and profits. It cannot be right that, due to a lack of social housing and affordable homes to buy, families should be forced to live in rented homes in the private sector, some of which do not reach decent standards. I welcome the Minister’s comments on that.

Where we live is important to us all. Some of us have more choice in deciding than others. It is only right that we should support the efforts of ALMOs such as Stockport Homes to provide the best possible environments for those who have little or no choice in their housing. I look forward to such a commitment from the Minister.

[Mr Peter Bone (in the Chair)]

Before I call the next speaker, it might be helpful for me to tell Members that I will call them in the order in which they notified the Chair that they wish to speak. Members who have not notified the Chair will be called at the end. It is normal practice to notify the Chair in advance.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jeremy Corbyn]

That was a very good use of words by the Minister, and I compliment him on it—Sir Humphrey would be proud. But, for new tenants, there is a proposal whereby it will be permissible for local authorities to limit the term of tenure or to review it. Given the divisive nature of the plan, if we take that five, 10, 15 or 20 years down the road, the public sector will mirror the private sector as it is today. A tiny proportion of private sector tenants have the 1960s and 1970s rent protection—there are just a few left. I want security of tenure for all council and all housing association tenants, with no time limit placed on it.

The need for investment in good-quality housing could never be greater. Children growing up in overcrowded accommodation under-achieve in school and suffer more illness. Families break up. It costs us all a lot of money. There are an awful lot of broken lives and broken ambitions because of people living in poor-quality, overcrowded accommodation, some of which is in the public sector. People living in private rented accommodation may be forced to move every few months because the landlord decides that they can get more money from someone else, or decides to sell the property and move on, or whatever else. People have to cope with disruption to schooling and endless moves around the place. A tenant on housing benefit in the private rented sector has no negotiating power vis-à-vis a private sector landlord.

It is up to us and the public sector as a whole to ensure protection, regulation and security, so that children know where they are going to stay, families know where they are going to stay and the communities benefit from that as a whole. My ambition is to see far more council housing built, purchased and managed, with the good quality that is possible within it, and to see a degree of regulation in the private sector that will give people the security of tenure that is so desperately needed. Otherwise, we are just failing in our duty.

I compliment the Select Committee on the report that it produced and the debate that it has encouraged today. I urge it to do further investigation work, particularly on the role of the private sector in housing supply in this country.

[Mr Peter Bone (in the Chair)]

Order. Before I call the next speaker, it might be helpful for hon. Members to know that I intend to start the winding-up speeches at 5 o’clock. It is just after 4 o’clock now and there are four speakers to go. I call Nicky Morgan.