Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation and Liability for Housing Standards) Bill

John Bercow Excerpts

2nd reading: House of Commons
Friday 19th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Has the hon. Lady completed her speech?

[Lucy Allan]

I have, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

We are immensely grateful to the hon. Lady.

Is the hon. Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts) ready, or has he been detained by other matters? No; he is ready. Let us hear from the fellow.

--- Later in debate ---

[James Heappey]

The right hon. Gentleman knows that he and I are fellow travellers in our enthusiasm for home energy efficiency, and indeed that was exactly what I was moving on to in my speech. I fear, however that he may need to stay for a little while during the statement in order to hear both parts of my thoughts on home energy efficiency, as I suspect an interruption may be imminent.

The Government have introduced some excellent measures thus far. There is much more to do, as they have recognised, and of course this Bill is therefore hugely important in addressing what remains to be done. As the right hon. Gentleman said, one key part in ensuring that homes are fit for habitation is how well insulated they are and how energy-efficient they are. Too many people live in fuel poverty, not necessarily because they have not got the money to heat their property, but because their property is so poorly insulated and the appliance within it so inefficient that the costs of heating that property are disproportionate to what they should be if all of those measures were adequately in place. We have to start to move on from an argument that all that matters in housing is providing it at the most affordable cost to rent and buy—equally important, surely, is what it costs to live in the property each month thereafter. In talking today about homes that are fit for human habitation, we should be very much focused on making sure that the houses people are living in are not only affordable to rent, but affordable to live in each month. That requires much higher expectations of landlords on the home energy efficiency measures and the insulation in their properties.

One Opposition Member, either in the second speech from that side of the House or in an intervention on the opening speech, gave a startling statistic about the cost each year to the NHS of people living in poorly insulated homes. I think the figure was £1.4 billion, which seems to me to be a good reason why we should make better-insulated and more energy-efficient homes a higher priority, so that people can not only live in comfort but afford to live in their home.

I see that you are on the edge of your seat, Mr Speaker, so I shall draw my remarks to a close and let other business proceed.

[Mr Speaker]

That is extraordinarily considerate, and characteristically so of the hon. Gentleman, in time for the statement by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice.

Proceedings interrupted (Standing Order No. 11(4)).