Housing and Planning Bill

Richard Bacon Excerpts

Tuesday 12th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Zac Goldsmith]

I am not going to take any more interventions. [Interruption.] I did take an intervention.

Finally, will the Minister commit to ensuring that public bodies can take the widest possible and longest term view of best value when releasing land? That point has been raised with me time and again by great and small developers, as well as by housing associations. We need a redefinition or an expanded definition.

[Mr Richard Bacon (South Norfolk) (Con)]

The National Audit Office study of the disposal of public land showed that, in the last tranche, enough land was sold off for 109,500 potential homes. Does my hon. Friend agree that people do not live in potential homes, but actual homes, and that it is essential for the public interest to make sure, when a sale takes place, that there is a plan to ensure that something happens in a timely manner?

[Zac Goldsmith]

My hon. Friend makes my point for me. That is absolutely essential. We will not get best value out of the available public land with a rapid fire sale; that will require a much more coherent and strategic view from public bodies. I hope we will see more of that as a consequence of this Government’s intervention.

I thank the Minister again for the work he has put into delivering the two-for-one amendment. I am very grateful to him for amendment 112, which will ensure that the Bill works for London.

--- Later in debate ---

[Greg Clark]

The hon. Gentleman is completely wrong, and if he looked at our housing plans, he would see that they include building 100,000 houses for affordable rent as well as 200,000 starter homes. It is right, and it is the mandate on which this Government were elected, to provide homes for people who aspire to own their own home, as well as for those who want to rent. One failure during recent years has been that people who wanted to own their own home, in the way that many Members of this House have, have been denied that opportunity.

[Mr Bacon]

Does the Secretary of State agree that the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter) is wrong not only because this Government are allowing the building of more affordable homes, but because this Bill provides for self-build and custom house building on a larger scale than ever before—and this can also include social housing for rent?

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right: we need homes provided right across the country, of all the different types and tenures that our constituents and residents want. There has been a dearth of affordable homes for first-time buyers for an increasing number of years, which is why the commitment in our manifesto to provide starter homes for first-time buyers is such an important part of our platform, which we are implementing with this Bill.

--- Later in debate ---

[Robert Neill]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. The London suburbs, in particular, suffered from the ludicrous policy of counting things in terms of units rather than the number of affordable homes. That meant that places such as Bromley, Beckenham and others were swamped with flats being built—one or two-bedroom units—when the real demand was for affordable family homes. That, at last, we are tackling. Good housing associations such as Affinity Sutton in my constituency were happy to sign up to the agreement with the Secretary of State, because it gives them flexibility to be innovative.

I remember when I was a councillor tons and tons of people in my ward wanting to buy their home and the Labour Government stopping them. I find it pretty appalling that someone I would usually respect seeks to obstruct and stop people having aspiration. Aspiration goes beyond being forever a tenant—it goes to having a chance to buy and a chance to get on. It is that lack of aspiration that so characterises Opposition Front Benchers. That is why their opposition to this Bill is so sad and, I would say, such a betrayal of hard-working people—people exactly like my shop steward grandfather, who worked hard to buy his own home and was helped to do so. They are exactly the people this Government are trying to help. We will not take any lessons from Labour Members about social inclusion or equality. They are reversing social inclusion and equality. They set it back, and we should congratulate—

[Mr Bacon]

While my hon. Friend is on the subject of Labour’s lack of radicalism, does he share my confusion that the Labour party, which has control of many councils and billions of pounds of reserves, is not establishing and promoting mutual housing co-operatives? There is nothing in law to prevent Labour from doing that. If it really wanted to promote in perpetuity social rents, there are avenues available to it. Where is the radicalism one would have expected to hear from Labour Members?

[Robert Neill]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Many local authorities would take that up. Housing co-operatives are a great idea. Labour’s attitude towards the private rented sector has been a barrier to the institutional investment in the private sector that would so improve the quality of the stock. It is the consistent failure of Labour authorities to take their opportunities that is the real story, not the freedoms that this Government and the previous coalition Government had been giving them.

It is a sad day, but I have to say this frankly to the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne and his hon. Friends: I like them as people but they are profoundly wrong in their opposition to this Bill.