Housing and Planning Bill (Thirteenth sitting)

Teresa Pearce Excerpts

Thursday 3rd December 2015 Public Bill Committees

[Dr Blackman-Woods]

The clause is really problematic, in particular because subsection (1) is absolutely extraordinary:

“Rent regulations may require a local housing authority to make a payment or payments to the Secretary of State in respect of any estimated increase in rental income because of the regulations.”

Given our earlier discussions, we know that, as yet, the Government have made no estimate of the amount of day-to-day income. They are not able to furnish us with any estimates of the income to be raised or the expenditure necessary to make the scheme function, but under the terms of clause 79(1) somehow, on some basis that we do not know at the moment, there will be an estimate of rental income. Presumably, local housing authorities will then make a payment to the Secretary of State in respect of any estimated increase. That is extremely worrying, to put it mildly.

[Teresa Pearce (Erith and Thamesmead) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend recall, as I do, that the Minister said earlier that the cost of the scheme will be offset by the income to be derived? Does this clause mean that local housing authorities will not get to keep the income?

[Dr Blackman-Woods]

My hon. Friend makes an interesting point, which I hope we will discuss when we come to subsequent amendments in the group because all of them are about trying to get information from the Minister about how the scheme will work in practice for local authorities. In particular, the councils are coming forward to us to say that they are extremely concerned about the making of some arbitrary estimate—and we must understand that that is what it is, at the moment, because the Government have not given us any information on how it will be arrived at.

Milton Keynes Council, for example, has written:

“We are concerned that the Bill seeks to establish a process for taking a sum of money from councils based on a national estimate that will unlikely reflect actual local conditions. Councils, like housing associations, should be able to retain the additional income generated from these rents to build new homes.”

That is exactly the point that my hon. Friend the Member for Erith and Thamesmead was making. The council added:

“This would have far greater benefits for local communities than the money going to the Treasury.”