| Previous Section | Home Page |
Column 1072
past few years to realise that. It is even more difficult for tenants to meet those aspirations. I found it depressing that there has been no recognition in the debate of the fact that there has been a diminution of tenants' rights and an increase in the difficulty of renting.Many tenants with private landlords have considerably less security than they had two or three years ago, with shorthold tenancies and altered succession rights. Many private landlords now refuse to accept as tenants people who are on benefits. Rents have been forced up in the private sector and in the public sector because of the withdrawal of subsidies. The Government should be seriously concerned about the housing association sector, where payment of rent relies increasingly on housing benefits. If the rents were fixed at market levels, few housing association tenants would be able to afford them.
I will deal mainly with tenants' choice and with the reality of what "choice" means for many people. I shall hold an advice surgery this evening in my constituency and I know what I shall find when I get there. There will be a queue of people with housing problems and there will be people who are on local authority waiting lists. For many authorities, waiting lists might as well not exist because no one is being rehoused from them. How much choice do people have ? Many local authorities--certainly many in London--operate a one-offer policy of a suitable flat or house. That applies even to direct offers and not only to offers of bed and breakfast.
Transfers of existing tenants in my local authority and in many others have virtually ceased because authorities are struggling to keep their heads above water in dealing with homelessness. It is not good enough to blame local authorities. My local authority, Waltham Forest, has less than 2 per cent. empty stock. It does not use bed-and-breakfast accommodation for homeless families and has worked hard to keep out of that. Meetings with the Department of the Environment on housing investment programme applications have resulted in the Department praising the authority's record on management.
No new houses are being built and investment is being cut. As a result, local authorities cannot cope. I am in favour of tenants having the right to repairs and improvements. The vast majority of people agree on that, but a right to repair means little to someone with four kids in a two-bedroomed flat on the 19th floor of a tower block. It does not mean much to the private tenant either. An elderly private tenant in a property which is in bad condition will not be impressed by talk about the right to repair, because it is far from easy to get the necessary action through environmental health officers. Tenants' rights and choices cannot be considered in isolation from the rest of the housing policy. When we have a housing strategy that does not address supply, new building and large-scale improvement, it is pointless to talk about tenants' rights. Hon. Members have spoken about consultation and power. We all accept that in the past local authorities have been paternalistic. That would have been a fair accusation against many local authorities 20 or 30 years ago, but in recent years--certainly in the case of many Labour authorities--that is no longer the case. The Minister mentioned a housing action trust in my constituency in the context of tenants' rights and of tenants being able to choose. That housing action trust is in Waltham Forest and it is instructive to look at its history.
Column 1073
The trust started when the local authority looked at what could be done on run-down estates. The authority produced schemes in conjunction with tenants and involved tenants in the redevelopment of the estates, but the Government refused to sanction the loans necessary for the work. The Government were then asked whether they would permit the setting up of a tenant-controlled company which would take over the management of the estates and do the work. That, too, was refused, and we ended up with the housing action trust. During the setting of the trust, the then Minister made some concessions to tenants. He said that he was willing to give guarantees about future letting policies and rent levels and the ability of the tenants to choose their landlord on the expiry of the housing action trust. However, none of that was translated into legislation, and if the HAT board chose to do so it could ignore those guarantees. If the Minister means what he says about being interested in tenants' rights he should seek to embody in legislation the guarantees given to the Waltham Forest housing action trust.Ms. Mildred Gordon (Bow and Poplar) : My hon. Friend may be aware that my constituents are watching carefully what is happening in Walthamstow. They have been offered a HAT and have been told that they can eventually be asked to be taken back under council control. When they asked whether there was a guarantee that the council would take them back, they found that there was no legal requirement for that. They know that under council control they have security of tenure--a matter which was raised by Conservative Members. They cannot be put out under one pretext or another and their rents cannot be raised sky high. They would probably favour the improvements to run-down properties that a HAT would bring, if the Government would give the guarantees that they seem unwilling to give.
Mr. Gerrard : I agree. Those issues were raised during the setting up of the Waltham Forest HAT. At that time, Ministers said that such guarantees should be given. As I have said, however, those guarantees have never been backed by legislation and it would be possible for the HAT board to ignore them. That seriously worries tenants, and I hope that the Minister will consider it.
It is instructive to look at the history of the tenants who were involved in the setting up of the Waltham Forest HAT. The local authority encouraged tenants to become involved, but the Government set up a HAT board on which they were not prepared to have a tenant majority. If tenant power and consultation mean anything, they should mean being prepared to give real power to tenants, allowing them to form a majority on a board and to make real decisions about the management of their properties and expenditure on them. Often that is where the line is drawn. Tenant consultation is allowed so long as it does not involve real decisions or the ability to spend, but the right to manage and to choose must include the right to control and spend money.
Time and again, the Opposition have said that real rights and choices for tenants must be explained and incorporated in an overall housing strategy which addresses supply and the value of rented housing. The
Column 1074
Government must not simply adopt policies that allow for social rented housing to be run down, but that is the reality of what is happening.12.28 pm
Mr. Dudley Fishburn (Kensington) : It is not surprising that the Government have tabled this motion, because they have lots to crow about. I understand why they want an outing of praise and I am pleased to give it. Paradoxically, many of the more socially progressive, liberal ideas that the Labour party was proposing 30 years ago--about the last time that one could discern any thought from the Labour party--have been delivered over the past 10 years by the Conservative Government. They have been delivered by pursuing the tenets of capitalism and variety of choice rather than by the centralising force of socialist bureaucracy that was the dream in the 1950s and 1960s.
In my constituency there is a wide variety of housing provision, all of it successful. I am lucky in that there are more housing associations in my constituency than there are in any other part of the country. This enormous variety provides, for example, for ethnic minorities, single mothers, single women, those who wish to ensure that their homes belong not to just to them but to succeeding generations, those wanting short-term stays or people who are being rehabilitated into society. This wide variety is the essence of Conservative philosophy.
This debate on tenants' rights involves something far greater than just tenants' rights. Tenants can now have a real say in framing their destinies. In my constituency, this means more than just passive rights. Tenants are not just being consulted ; they are putting together plans for the architecture of the estates on which they live, for the security of those estates and for the rents that they will pay in future. I know that when the North Kensington city challenge bid comes to the Department of the Environment, one of the factors that will most recommend it is that it is not a bid in which tenants have just been consulted--it is a bid in which they have led. Then there is leasehold reform. That campaign sprung more often from the Back Benches than from the Front Benches. Many of those Back -Benchers, on both sides of the House, who started the campaign are no longer with us, which only shows that a successful campaign can take generations of Parliament to achieve. Now, reform will be undertaken in this Session and commonhold, as the Minister kindly confirmed, will follow on within the lifetime of this Government. It is hugely appreciated that we have all aspects of leasehold reform firmly on board.
The greatest change in housing provision is the thriving condition of the private sector. That is very visible in the centre of London, where more and more people are turning to private rented accommodation. My borough has supported a business expansion scheme to provide assured tenancies for its staff. That is a perfect example of how capitalism can achieve fairness and equity in the housing market in a way that socialism never can.
Against this blue sky of success, it might seem churlish of me to dwell for a moment on a cloud of worry--the position in London of statutory tenants. Let me at once declare an interest in that I am myself a statutory tenant, although none of the concerns on which I shall elaborate apply to me. Over the past two or three years, statutory tenants in the centre of London have been getting rent
Column 1075
increases that are clearly out of kilter with other increases. They are not two or three times the rate of inflation, although such increases would imply a real change of resources out of people's private incomes and into the housing costs. They are not increases of five, six or seven times the rate of inflation, which would be punitive and which the Government would not endorse. Regularly, rent increases for statutory tenants in the centre of London are 10 times the rate of inflation, and this is causing considerable social cruelty.This distortion in the market is a result of the fact that, in the centre of London, the comparison of rents made by the rent assessment board when looking at statutory tenants is not with a genuinely free market. It is, rather, one distorted by the overwhelming demand for business accommodation rents and by the presence of foreign tenants. Thus it is that in whole mansion blocks in my constituency of Kensington, indigenous tenants are being forced out by rent increases. They make way not for other residents but for business lettings, where the tenants may be wholly transitory, or for foreign tenants who may visit for only one or two months a year. Many mansion blocks stand almost empty while every year indigenous tenants, as a result of rent assessments that take place every two years, are being forced out by rent increases of 30 or 40 per cent. It is clear that it is not the Government's intention that that should happen. My hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning, being the intelligent and sympathetic man that he is, has very much taken the matter on board. That is why some weeks ago he made a public commitment to examine the problem. In an open letter he wrote : "The size of increases in some parts of London has been somewhat higher than elsewhere in the country given the generally higher level of rents which are being achieved in the assured tenancy sector in these areas where foreign demand is an important factor. We will therefore review the guidance to rent assessment committees to see whether any special consideration needs to be given to these particular factors which are affecting rent levels."
That commitment attracted much publicity at the time and was widely welcomed by my constituents. This morning my hon. Friend the Under- Secretary of State said, even before being pressed, that the Department was about to take public advice. The decision to open up the matter for public consideration is an enormously welcome step forward.
We all realise, as did my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning when he made the commitment, that to change instructions to rent assessment committees so that they take account of business lettings and foreign lettings will require a degree of primary legislation. It might require about 10 lines in the housing Bill that will come before the House in the autumn. It is with the intention of forming the appropriate clause that my hon. Friend the
Under-Secretary has said, to my delight, that he will be accepting evidence from the statutory tenant sector and from others who are interested in the problem.
As I have said, I am talking only of a cloud, but it is an important one for those of us who represent central London constituencies. Against an otherwise blue sky--it is ever more apparent to the public and in the provision of housing throughout London that the Government are doing so much in housing matters--this one concern shows up much more darkly than it need. I welcome the Government's initiative in putting matters right by accepting evidence over the next six to eight weeks. I shall
Column 1076
welcome the relevant clause in the housing Bill that will come before the House in the autumn, which will put the matter to rights. I trust that it will give statutory tenants the protection that the Government have always said that they deserve. That will be not only a legal protection but protection from being bankrupted out of their own homes.12.38 pm
Mrs. Anne Campbell (Cambridge) : I am pleased to be able to speak about tenants' rights, opportunities and participation, which are extremely important subjects for my constituents. Cambridge city council was mentioned in the housing investment programme as being one of the top 50 councils that were well ahead of the field, especially in terms of tenants' participation. I welcome the debate and I am pleased to be able to draw to the attention of the House the success of Cambridge city council in the schemes in which it has participated. The relevant schemes have been in existence for three years and have been well developed.
Two tenants sit on each of three housing sub-committees--development, management and policy. Although the law prohibits voting by tenants, they have a right to speak, to take part in discussions and to influence decision making at the end of the day. Tenants in the private-rented sector do not have those rights.
I was glad to hear the Minister say that local authorities will continue to have a role as providers as well as enablers. Cambridge city council demonstrates well that local authorities can be good providers and that should not be forgotten. There are good and bad providers in every sector and it should be recognised that local authorities can be good and that there are impressive examples, especially in Cambridge.
There is some anxiety in my constituency about forthcoming legislation on compulsory competitive tendering. Some of the progress made with tenant participation in Cambridge may be eroded if tenants cannot choose their contractors. If the selection must be made as the result of competitive tendering, rather than on the basis of the best quality, that may limit choice. Will the Minister take that into consideration? I am aware that a paper on competitive tendering is to be published soon.
Although the proposed legislation is welcome, the Government are still fiddling while Rome burns. The Audit Commission report clearly showed that insufficient housing investment is creating problems of real concern to many of my constituents. The hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton (Mr. Streeter) mentioned the importance of making land available for social housing. I support that approach, and ask the Minister to consider carefully a plot of land on the edge of Cambridge known as Clay farm, which could accommodate 900 houses. The city council intended to develop that site with housing associations in the provision of social housing for the people of Cambridge, which would have contributed a great deal to alleviating the housing shortage in my constituency.
Unfortunately, that land was put into the green belt by the Conservative and Social Democrat groups on the county council, whose decision was later ratified by the Secretary of State for the Environment. That issue should be reopened and the decision reconsidered, because that land is desperately needed. It is difficult to see how additional housing can be provided if it remains out of use.
Column 1077
Hon. Members in all parts of the House stressed that the lack of capital building has caused an increase in the number of homeless families. The 16 and 17-year-olds whom one sees on the streets are the visible face of the housing crisis, but other aspects are visible to those of us who represent local communities as Members of Parliament or councillors. I refer for example to the increasing number of families who find themselves in inappropriate housing. About 70 families in my constituency are waiting to be transferred to more suitable accommodation. Raising a family should be a joyful and rewarding experience, but for many of my constituents it is a fraught and stressful one. Few male Members of Parliament have spent time at home being economically inactive and looking after children. I am glad to be one of the new women Members of Parliament who can speak from personal experience of the stresses imposed on family life when conditions are less than adequate.Children and adults need space. Boisterous youngsters need room to play, let off steam and to fight if necessary. If they do not have it, it can create intolerable family stresses that manifest themselves in all sorts of ways.
When a family is marooned in a one or two-bedroomed flat on an upper floor of a block, with no lift or access to a garden, everyday living becomes something of a nightmare. Many of the young mothers to whom I speak feel themselves trapped when going to the shops, hanging out the washing or collecting a prescription--activities which any of us would consider a normal part of everyday life. However, if one is a young mother with a baby and toddler, and has to carry both of them and a pushchair down two flights of stairs, and the toddler wants to take his trike as well, they become almost impossible tasks. Coming back is even worse, because the children are tired and so is the mother. The other day, I spoke to a young mother who had been faced with a choice between leaving her baby at the bottom of the stairs and leaving her shopping there. When she returned for the shopping she found that it had disappeared : it had been stolen.
The problem is difficult to describe, because it is largely invisible in the streets ; it is a problem, nevertheless, and it is increasing rapidly. To my distress, I find that as a new Member of Parliament I can offer little hope to constituents who come to me--often in desperation, even tears--because I can see no way out. Unless the Government are prepared to change their policy and make more housing available, I fear that the situation will become worse and worse.
I urge the Government to put real power into people's hands. I urge them to give some self-respect to young mothers and to return some real choice to their lives--to liberate them from the stresses imposed by their own families, whom they should be able to enjoy. One of way of doing that would be to release capital receipts, thus allowing councils to build more houses. That would not only help homeless families, but have a tremendous effect on the families whom I have described.
12.45 pm
Mr. Bernard Jenkin (Colchester, North) : My constituency is as relevant to the debate as any other--although it may not be as obviously relevant as the constituency that
Column 1078
I fought in the 1987 election. Glasgow, Central is still emerging from a form of feudal Stalinist oppression in regard to housing. North Colchester is such a diverse constituency that, if the Government have a problem relating to a particular issue, it is likely to affect that constituency. The garrison, for example, is the pride of the town, but it now faces the perceived threat of the "Options for Change" proposals. The university--one of the fastest-expanding universities in the United Kingdom, particularly in the field of research--is under strain in connection with a capital programme, but, despite its youth, it has already fathered some distinguised alumni. My right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey, South-West (Mrs. Bottomley) is its first Cabinet Minister ; its first chief constable is the Warwickshire chief constable, Mr. Peter Joslin ; and, believe it or not, another alumnus is the President of Costa Rica, Essex university's first Nobel peace prize winner.North Colchester contains every type of education. It has grammar schools, comprehensive schools, a higher education institute and an excellent adult education college. That, too, represents a potential problem for a Minister. It also contains nearly every type of agriculture--even fishing, which is under threat of marine gravel extraction and the building of the new London airport, Marinair, in the Thames estuary. I assure the House that the supply of oysters will continue uninterrupted, however.
All types of industry and commerce are represented : heavy and light industry, retail and services. We have an excellent football team, the U's, which has just got back into the league, but is in difficulties over its stadium. We also have an extensive heritage. Colchester was the Romans' first capital of England, and the largest Norman keep in Europe was subsequently built there. It became Britain's oldest recorded town and witnessed a grim seige in the civil war--reminding us how hard fought were our present Parliament's precious powers. There is much to preserve and treasure there. Today, the constituency stretches from a thriving commercial centre to the almost unaltered landscapes, under huge open skies, which so inspired so many of Constable's paintings. At times, it may be difficult to remember that North Colchester is in the same county as the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Mr. Amess)--where a Constable seems more often to be the man who asks you where you got all those televisions in your garage. Now, however, we must revise our preconceptions of Basildon, which has thrown off the socialist yoke.
Naturally, there are all types of housing and housing-related problems in North Colchester.
That diversity of character was most ably and sensitively represented by the former Member of Parliament for North Colchester, Sir Antony Buck. I do not know whether I am in order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, but you may have spied him in the Serjeant at Arms' Box.
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Michael Morris) : Order. The hon. Gentleman should never tempt the Chair, and he was out of order.
Experience of the civil war made Colchester a town of religious and political tolerance and diversity. It has become a town where a man can come from, for example, Northern Ireland, and few will worry whether he be a
Column 1079
Catholic or a Protestant. Sir Antony taught me not merely that it would be a privilege to sit here but that it would be a privilege to represent all the people of North Colchester--of all classes, colours, creeds and politics. That was in the tradition, I might add, of my noble Friend Lord Alport, also a former Member for the town. They have set me a fine and difficult example to follow. The people of North Colchester hold them both in remarkable affection and esteem. Sir Antony also distinguished himself here, in that after years of argument and controvery over defence, for example, it is due to people such as he that we can now look socialists in the face with pride and say, "You now subscribe to our views."My succession, however, was not universally acclaimed. North Colchester overlaps two boroughs, Colchester and Tendring district, which are both Liberal Democrat-controlled. Colchester borough council welcomed both me and my hon. Friend the Member for South Colchester and Maldon (Mr. Whittingdale) with a somewhat barbed congratulation to work
"in a spirit of partnership to overcome the Borough's worsening housing crisis".
How bad that crisis is is a matter of opinion, but they may be surprised ; I am most happy to oblige the councils of both Tendring and Colchester and to work, as is my duty, in that spirit alongside them.
I invite them to examine with me the possibilities of working to expand the role of housing associations in the area, which currently represent only a tiny proportion of the overall housing stock. In particular, I invite them to explore the possibility of seeking large-scale voluntary transfers of council housing stock to the private sector--some 12,500 homes.
In Colchester borough's motion, councillors call for the release of local authority capital receipts. Under this Government, or in reality, any Government, that is a blind alley, leading back to the general failure of councils as providers of housing, let alone to all the public expenditure implications. Therefore, I urge them, through you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, to put aside all party differences. Let us see what we can achieve to help the people whom we are all elected to represent.
There have been many exciting developments in housing during the last 12 years, or even longer. When Sir Antony Buck was first elected to the Colchester division in 1961, home ownership was already reasonably high, at 48.4 per cent. Today it is well over 70 per cent. Tenants' rights in the public sector and, to a certain extent, in the private sector have been dramatically enhanced. We see exciting opportunities for mobility in housing between the rented and owner-occupied sectors through schemes such as rents-to-mortgages. The real test of Government policy, however, whether local or national, is how well opportunities can be made to match the aspirations of the people who most need to improve their circumstances, whether the urban or the rural poor. Let us not talk merely in materialistic terms. Great visions are based upon great values. People's well-being depends as much upon the ability to control their own destinies, to make choices, as upon bricks and mortar and state handouts. We need to raise aspirations as much as funds.
I was delighted by the Minister's comments and I urge him to continue his mission to increase tenants' rights--not just for council tenants but for housing association and private tenants. There is something of a paradox in urging
Column 1080
north Colchester's council tenants to move to the housing association sector given that future tenants--not so much existing tenants--may have fewer rights than they would enjoy in the public sector at present. There is a need for a level playing field between public and private sector landlords.The early large-scale voluntary transfers can really only be described as 50 per cent. successful. Many of them were far too large. In Colchester and Tendring, let us look for small multiple voluntary transfers and let us try to preserve and to enhance the rights of existing and future tenants in the process. Nor should we ignore the public expenditure consequences. There is some concern that voluntary transfers of public housing stock can have bad consequences for taxpayers generally.
It has become a cliche to say that an Englishman's home is his castle, but I invite all councillors in North Colchester to work together to that fundamental and, indeed, democratic end. It will be a rewarding privilege to help them to pursue that end in this citadel of democracy, this sovereign Parliament, and to continue Colchester's historic development, not least as an important gateway to Europe. I am reminded that, not long after the Romans left Colchester, the Danes arrived. Long may that partnership also thrive.
12.57 pm
Mr. Clive Betts (Sheffield, Attercliffe) : I congratulate the hon. Member for Colchester, North (Mr. Jenkin) on his maiden speech, which was well and clearly argued. He gave an interesting resume of the history of his constituency and paid proper tribute to his predecessor, who is clearly held in respect and affection in the House.
We must examine tenants' rights in the overall context of the Government's housing policy--I am tempted to say, "the Government's lack of housing policy", as the lack of investment in housing in Britain is all too apparent. There is a shortage of homes and a consequent growth in homelessness. My hon. Friend the Member for Hammersmith (Mr. Soley) mentioned the appalling plight of young people living in cardboard boxes, not only in the capital, but now in other major cities throughout the country.
As my hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich (Mr. Raynsford) said, it is not only visible homelessness on the streets that we have to worry about, but hidden homelessness. Young couples who cannot get homes of their own and who have been living with their parents for several years come to our surgeries and tell us of the resulting pressures and tensions of family life.
We hear much from Conservative Members about the right to buy. My hon. Friend the Member for Hammersmith rightly mentioned the right to rent, which if implemented which would bring us to the right of everyone in the country to a decent home. For far too long in the 1980s we debated tenure and nothing else. The Opposition are not against owner-occupation. We are in favour of home ownership, but we recognise that people have the right to choose not to be home owners if they want instead to have a home to rent. Many people prefer to rent. Younger people often need to be mobile--to move around the country--because of the requirements of their employment. Older people may not want the responsibility of repairing and looking after a property ; they may prefer to rent because it suits their circumstances. Moreover,
Column 1081
some people--the unemployed and poor-- cannot afford to choose to buy. Those people should have the right to choose to have a home to rent. That is the only alternative open to them.During the 1980s there was a massive decline in investment in public sector housing. If the Government could show that there had been a corresponding increase in investment in private sector homes, perhaps they could argue that by restricting investment in the public sector they had allowed a growth in the private sector and that the total number of homes provided was the same, but that is not the case. We have seen a decline in the public sector, but there has been no consequent comparable increase in the private sector.
In Sheffield the local authority's borrowing allocation has fallen by more than a third since 1979. Early in the 1980s, we were promised by the Government that all the resources from council house sales would be made available to local authorities to spend on providing new homes and improving existing ones. It is not simply that local authorities cannot spend accumulated past receipts. To put it in numerical terms, the city of Sheffield has £21 million of receipts from sales of capital assets this year which it cannot spend. At the same time, we have growing waiting lists and disrepair and houses are in need of improvement.
In 1979 a person could go to Sheffield housing department and virtually get a key over the counter. One could get a key to a desirable property within two years. It now takes 10 years on the waiting list to obtain the same property. In 1979 the number of homeless families rehoused in Sheffield was 150. The number has increased more than tenfold during the past 13 years.
The city of Sheffield and its authority are not against other forms of rented housing. We have developed plans with housing associations. We have supported co-operatives. There is a successful newly built co-operative in my constituency in the suburb of Darnall. We have supported management co- ops. Recently we transferred some properties in Hyde Park in Sheffield to a management co-op. But all those extra new initiatives should be in addition to the local authority's role in providing houses, not instead of it.
My hon. Friend the Member for Hammersmith was right when he said that housing associations have a higher vacancy rate than local authorities. They also have higher management costs. I am not sure that Conservative Members have thought through the costs or whether the Treasury would be prepared to bear them, as the Government gradually transfer more houses out of the local authority sector. Tenants' rights are not merely about the right to opt out of local authority control. Tenants' rights have been negotiated and agreed between tenants and local authorities over many years, long before the Government legislated. I shall list just some of the rights that have been available to tenants in Sheffield by agreement and negotiation.
There is a proper tenancy agreement. It is not merely a one-sided list of dos and don'ts for tenants, but a proper agreement negotiated between the tenants and the local authority many years ago. The agreement included a right to repair far in advance of what the Government
Column 1082
introduced in their legislation. No tenant is prepared to use the right provided by the Government because it is so cumbersome and bureaucratic.There is also a consultation agreement between tenants and the local authority in Sheffield. It has been properly drawn up and implemented by negotiation between the two parties. The consultation arrangements include the right for tenants to sit on area committees as part of the decentralisation of housing management. In Sheffield we agreed that the tenants on those area committees should have the right not merely to speak but to vote. But what happened? The Government legislated and took the right to vote away from tenants on matters that affected their homes. Where are the rights of tenants in that Government policy?
By negotiation, we gave tenants the right to compensation for improvements that they carried out. That is already policy in Sheffield. We have given young people the right to register on the housing list at 16, although we recognise that in many cases it is a hollow right because when people go on the list the length of time that they have to wait grows because there is a shortage of accommodation.
We gave tenants the right to inspect their files and obtain information. For all the knocking that Ministers like to give Sheffield, this year Sheffield city council won a national award for the quality of the information that it provided to tenants and the way in which it was presented.
Every tenant in Sheffield had the right to have central heating installed, through a leasing scheme. What happened? When the Government changed the capital rules, leasing was caught up in capital controls and tenants no longer have that right.
The workings of the public sector borrowing requirement rule make an absolute nonsense. Two couples may live side by side in a semi-detached property--one couple has bought their council house and the others are still council tenants. The couple who have bought their council house can ask the gas company to install central heating and then pay for it in monthly instalments on their gas bill. That is an acceptable investment in the private sector, and the Government support it. The gas company borrows the money for the investment from private sector institutions. The tenants next door may not have chosen to buy their house, or perhaps cannot afford to do so. They could ask the local authority for central heating, offering to pay for it in extra rent each week, and the local authority could borrow money from the same financial institutions as the gas company. But that cannot happen because of the restrictions on capital expenditure that the Government have imposed on local authorities and which they tightened up in the most recent legislation. There is discrimination against tenants and in Sheffield a tenant's right to central heating has been removed.
In Sheffield, tenants had the right to proper planned maintenance schemes, but the last set of capital changes introduced by the Government removed a local authority's right to spend all its capital receipts on non-prescribed expenditure.
There has been a lot of talk in the House about partnership. We also had a partnership scheme in Sheffield, which involved the city council, housing associations and private builders, but the Government introduced legislation to prevent local authorities from poursuing such partnership schemes. That is how the
Column 1083
Government have treated the provision of decent rented accommodation and tenants' rights to enjoy such accommodation. It is not merely a question of the right to opt out and to transfer. Opposition Members are not denying that tenants should be allowed to choose a different landlord, if they so wish. It is a question of creating a level playing field for opting out. The Government's housing policy seems to have allowed tenants the right to opt for another landlord, but has tried to encourage them to do so by starving local authorities of capital resources and by switching resources to schemes such as housing action trusts. Tenants are tempted to choose a different landlord, not because they want to, but because they are presented with no alternative as the resources are not available to improve and modernise their homes properly within the local authority sector.We hear much about tenants' rights in the council sector, but what about rights for private sector tenants? When will the Government give those tenants the right to buy? Why will they not do that? What about giving private tenants the right to transfer into local authority tenure, instead of the other way around? No local authority tenants in Sheffield, offered the right to be the tenants of private landlords, are taking the offer up, but if private sector tenants in Sheffield were offered the right to become tenants of the local authority, there would be a queue a mile long outside the town hall tomorrow morning of people wanting to exercise that choice-- if the Government were prepared to offer it.
Ministers often talk as though every council estate is a shambles, in a state of massive disrepair with a poor environment, and as though tenants were clamouring to get off all council estates, but that is not true. There are many high-quality council estates in my constituency where tenants are very satisfied. They want the right to repair and to call the local authority to task if the standards of service laid down are not adhered to. They want a proper complaints procedure, and proper consultation. But they do not want to change their landlord. They want a decent housing service, but they do not necessarily want to run it. They want the local authority to have the resources to do the job properly.
We can talk about quality all the time. It is interesting that at the last AMA conference which I attended, the then Secretary of State for the Environment came along and talked an awful lot about quality in local government. I think that he mentioned it 12 times in his speech, but he never referred to resources once. By themselves, resources do not ensure quality. I do not believe in simply throwing money at problems, but we need resources if quality is to be delivered.
The Government's commitment to tenants' rights is only skin deep. It is a camouflage to cover up their failure to invest properly in our housing stock by providing new homes and repairing and modernising existing homes. What about the fundamental rights of those people with no home? Perhaps it is because so many Tory hon. Members own three or four homes that they have no compassion for those who have no home at all.
The Government have failed to meet the genuine aspirations of the people for decent homes and have failed to deliver the fundamental right of everyone to have a decent home. That right must be one of the bases of a civilised society, but the Government have failed to meet it.
Column 1084
1.7 pmMr. David Nicholson (Taunton) : It is a pleasure to congratulate those who have made their maiden speeches, in particular my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester, North (Mr. Jenkin), who brought fluency and ability to our proceedings. Like many other hon. Members who have made their maiden speeches, he established a balance between making relevant and powerful political points and following the necessary conventions of the House by describing, with considerable interest, his constituency and by paying tribute to his predecessor Sir Antony Buck, who will be remembered with affection and respect by the whole House. His parting shot about the influence of the vikings in 1992 will not have gone unnoticed.
I apologise to hon. Members and to the Minister because I will be unable to be present during the wind-up speeches. As far as it is relevant, I declare an interest as an adviser to the Building Employers Confederation. The subject of right to buy has featured significantly in the debate and there is no doubt that it has considerably enhanced the lives of individuals. However, another factor has not been covered adequately--the influence of the right-to-buy scheme on neighbourhoods and communities. There is no doubt that, when a fair number of houses are transferred to the private sector under right to buy, the improvements that the new home owners bring to their homes will enhance the whole neighbourhood, first by contrast and then by example and encouragement. I have seen that happen in east and north Taunton where there were previously heavy concentrations of council accommodation on the Halcon and Lyngford estates.
I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Hertfordshire, West (Mr. Jones) about some of the rasher talk on the release of capital receipts. In some cases, such as with my local authority in Taunton, the Liberals are even more extreme in that regard than the Labour party. Undoubtedly, if all that money were to be released, it would have serious economic effects, particularly when central Government are now making such a great demand, through the borrowing requirement, on available resources. I accept what my hon. Friend the Member for Hertfordshire, West and other hon. Members have said.
We are moving towards the point at which owner-occupation in this country may reach a ceiling. Owner-occupation in Britain is much higher than in many other similar countries. In west Germany, for example, nearly 50 per cent. of housing is in the private rented sector. In Britain it is only 8 per cent. We have an enormous amount to do to encourage development of the private rented sector, which in many respects is a more desirable way of meeting housing need, particularly for single people, than is council provision. In west Germany and Canada, less than 5 per cent. of the housing stock is publicly owned. The private sector plays a powerful role in those countries, though not through owner-occupation. The proportion is similar in Australia and New Zealand.
As I said, owner-occupation in Britain may be reaching its ceiling. There are many advantages of owner-occupation and I have mentioned some of them. In the past 20 or 25 years there has been no doubt that buying and owning a home has been probably the best investment a person could make. It has improved the position, certainly financially, of many individuals, primarily because of the strange fluctuation of house values in Britain.
Column 1085
The ceiling may now have been reached. We have seen a considerable slipping back in house values in recent years and we are unlikely to see the house price spirals of the past 20 years continue in the next decade or so. An organisation of economic and regulatory analysts based in St. James's has considered Britain not as a home ownership economy but as a home borrowership economy and has said that the three conditions that are required for the smooth operation of a home borrowership economy are not likely to be present in the next three years. Those conditions are rising nominal house prices, rising incomes and affordable interest rates.Present economic circumstances militate against each of those. In addition, the Government's requirement of low inflation--which, I believe, through our membership of the ERM and other factors, will be attained--plus the number of vacant properties now available in the private sector, will affect the value of house prices in the next few years.
We must also consider accommodation for those who are not able, or do not wish, to buy in the private sector. I, too, wish to refer to a recent report by the Audit Commission, a body which has not been hostile to the Government or to Conservative principles. There is much in the report that my hon. Friends and I can welcome in terms of the use of the housing stock by local authorities which do not use it effectively. The Minister referred to such abuses and I will not enlarge on those points.
The director of the Audit Commission, Howard Davies, sums up the report by saying :
"Under the present system, the supply gap is unbridgeable and there is little evidence of fresh initiatives to overcome the investment shortfall."
I referred earlier to the campaign being conducted in the south-west by The Western Morning News on the whole issue of low-cost housing provision related to capital receipts. That newspaper has revealed that almost 40,000 households in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset are on council house waiting lists. Although some councils could improve their performance by letting properties faster and by evicting squatters, that is not an option in Taunton Deane, because the stock is effectively used at present.
The Audit Commission considers that an average of 74,000 new homes will be needed yearly during the 1990s to meet the demand, but it expects that housing associations and councils will only have enough cash to build 62,000. In expressing concern on the matter, I believe that I can count on the support of a number of my hon. Friends in the south-west, such as my hon. Friends the Members for Tiverton (Mrs. Browning), for Cornwall, South- East (Mr. Hicks) and for St. Ives (Mr. Harris) and, from his earlier remarks, my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton (Mr. Streeter).
My hon. Friend the Member for Sutton made the valid point that capital receipts should be transferred to housing associations for use by them. I do not say that councils should continue their traditional role and that they should be responsible for new build. However, I believe that action must be taken to meet the considerable problems and needs that exist in the south-west and across the south generally. If the councils cannot do the job, more must be done to enable the housing associations to do it. In that
Column 1086
respect, I welcome the way in which The Western Morning News has highlighted the problem raised by the Audit Commission.I referred to the success of my local authority, Taunton Deane. I referred to the enhancement of the Halcon area of east Taunton through right to buy and through a continuing modernisation and general refurbishment programme on the pre-war estate. However, there is a problem. I am told that the council has been forced to cut the number of dwellings that it planned to complete under the programme during the current year because it is concerned about the high expenditure needed for house renovation grants under the scheme that has been in operation for the past two or three years. Only £742,000 was identified for the specified capital grant for private sector renovation purposes. The housing advice centre in Taunton predicts a renovation grant expenditure in the current financial year of between £1.3 million and £1.5 million. I hope that my hon. Friend the Minister will address that point, if not in his reply, in subsequent correspondence.
There are other problems in Taunton. There are now 366 households in priority need, an increase from the figure of 307 in 1987-88. However, the resources are effectively used. Despite a considerable demolition programme for non-traditional stock, only 0.84 per cent. of the housing stock was vacant in April 1992. That is a small amount bearing in mind the demands of the demolition programme. Taunton's practice compares well with the practice of the family of local authorities of which it is a member.
The enhancement of the ability of tenants to move is another issue which has a wider application throughout the country. They may move for employment reasons, to join their families or for other social reasons. I am afraid that many of the housing problems in my constituency have been caused by family break-up. There is often a need for mobility in conjunction with other local authorities. It is suggested that as the economy recovers, job mobility will become a pressing national requirement. It has always been important, but becomes even more so during a recovery. It is said that, at present, it is not given a particularly high priority by designated officers in local authorities. I hope that the Government will do more to encourage local authorities and housing associations to give higher priority to mobility, possibly asking them to set aside a specific proportion of their housing stock for mobility purposes. As I have said before, mobility should be a right and should be incorporated in the citizens charter. Every tenant should have the right to be told within about three weeks whether he is to be given a nomination for another local authority. He should also be told of his priority category and should have the right to know from the local authority or the housing association in the area to which he wishes to move whether he is likely to be accepted within about three months. It appears that if a tenant is not accepted in three months, he is unlikely ever to be accepted. However, there is a temptation to keep him on the list in the hope that something will turn up. I hope that more will be done to encourage local authorities to introduce computer facilities for registering tenants for mobility purposes. A recent survey by the housing section of the London School of Economics shows that some local authorities and, indeed, the London boroughs, which have been criticised in many other
| Next Section
| Home Page |