Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Bill

Thérèse Coffey Excerpts

Friday 13th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Williamson]

I am grateful for that, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I will endeavour to abide by your guidance.

The Bill is helpful in dealing with a problem, particularly given that people are often being forced into private sector accommodation because of the inability to find suitable social housing. The hon. Member for Watford and others made the point that forcing people into more expensive and often less suitable accommodation is unhelpful and unfair to individuals in such circumstances. We must therefore take measures such as those contained in the Bill to protect people from rogue landlords and being trapped paying high rents, which make things difficult for them. Even if they aspire to move into an occupation, they cannot do so because the rents are so high that they cannot set aside the money necessary to build up the deposit. It is clear that the Bill will ease the pressure on the housing list if we can release more accommodation through it, but unless more social housing is provided, councils will have to place more people in the private rented sector, including in expensive bed and breakfasts, and that will lead to an increase in the cost to the taxpayer.

Of course, the impact of the Bill will be further undermined by the Government’s decision to reduce the rights of tenants by creating insecure tenancies. As Members will be aware, the Government plan to link rents to market prices, which undermines the very basis of social housing. Although if the Bill finds its way on to the statute book that will be good news, as it will increase the supply of social housing, we must consider the consequences if the rents charged in the social housing sector are so high that it becomes difficult for people to access it at entry level.

[Dr Thérèse Coffey (Suffolk Coastal) (Con)]

I am surprised that the hon. Gentleman is going off at that angle. The point is that a small number of people are deliberately playing the system, either making money out of it or trying to hold on to properties. That is what the Bill is trying to deal with, not some of the more general challenges he is talking about in the context of social housing, which we all support. I am quite surprised by his speech.

[Chris Williamson]

The hon. Lady will concede that the hon. Members who have spoken so far have made the point that there is a desperate shortage in social housing and we therefore need to find ways to increase that supply. The need for the Bill is brought into sharp relief by the fact that there is such a dearth of social housing, particularly in certain parts of the country, where the waiting list runs into the thousands. For many people, the prospect of ever obtaining a social housing dwelling is virtually zero. It is therefore important that we set the proposal in its wider context. Members alluded to the suggestion that the Bill would go a long way towards eliminating and eradicating the problem of the insufficient supply of social housing. Clearly, it will not go anywhere near that so we need to take further measures to address the problem faced by millions of people in the country today.

--- Later in debate ---

[Karen Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands) (Con)]

I do not want to speak for too long, but I want to say why, on one of our very important Fridays, which we spend in our constituencies, I am here in Parliament, supporting my hon. Friend the Member for Watford (Richard Harrington) in his endeavours to ensure that the Bill becomes law. This is an incredibly important issue in all our constituencies, because we all know from our surgery appointments that constituents who come to us may be in social housing, but not the appropriate social housing. They need to find the appropriate housing for them and their families. They may be in two-bedroom accommodation although they have two children, who need separate bedrooms. They cannot move into homes that would be much more appropriate because, as has been said, many constituents are sub-letting those homes. That is why we should support the Bill. It is a small measure, but it could make a significant difference to so many people.

This is a matter of basic, common justice. Society as a whole has decided that some people should have the benefit of social housing, having qualified for that support. That is absolutely right; there are people who need that support. However, when they do not need to live in that home any more, because their family circumstances have changed, or they have moved to another part of the country for work, or whatever the reason might be—I am sure that many of the reasons are very innocent to start with—it is inappropriate and incorrect for them to sub-let their property fraudulently, instead of putting it back into the housing stock, where it is very much needed by people who would like to take it up. That is just common sense. Nobody could argue with the point that if a person is in a home that they no longer need, and are receiving from the state and society the benefit of living in that home, they should give it back to society. They have had the benefit of it; they should give it back, so that someone else can have that benefit.

Another point that I wanted to make derives from my work on the Work and Pensions Committee and the inquiries we have carried out on housing benefit. The Government and hon. Members in all parts of the House are keen to see the housing benefit bill come down. Housing benefit payments are based on the average market rental in an area. Where a tenant is sub-letting at a higher rent than they are paying to the social housing provider, because they are making some form of profit, or even if they are doing so at the same rent, the consequence is that they are distorting the market. That makes it harder to rein in the housing benefit bill, and makes it harder for people in genuine need who want to rent private sector properties to do so using housing benefit.

[Dr Thérèse Coffey]

I had a recent incident in my constituency. Residents in Aldeburgh were complaining that someone was renting out their social housing over the summer and raking in far more in one week than they were paying per month. This is the kind of thing we need to tackle.

[Karen Bradley]

My hon. Friend summarises the point well. We must make sure that such abuse of the system is not allowed. Even though it introduces small measures, the Bill will tackle those problems.

Finally, I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Watford on the sensitive way in which he has dealt with the issue. The measure could easily be misinterpreted and be seen as an attack on social housing tenants. Other Members might have scaremongered about the issue. My hon. Friend has not done that. He has tackled it with great sensitivity. All social tenants should be reassured that the Bill is not an attack on them. It is trying to deal with the 150,000 social tenants who, we understand, are abusing the system, distorting the market and making it more and more difficult for people in genuine need to get the homes that are appropriate for them.

That I why I am here on a Friday to support the Bill. I very much hope that the Government and the official Opposition will support it so that it can become legislation as soon as possible.