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Lever Park Bill
9.58 pm
Mr. Thurnham: The second petition bears 5,807 signatures and concerns the Lever Park Bill. It says:
- To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.
The Humble Petition of the people of Bolton North East and the surrounding areas, including the members of the Owls Motorcycle Club,
Sheweth that they oppose the proposed development of Lever Park in Bolton.
Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your honourable House reject the Lever Park Bill in order to preserve free access to the park for the public, in accordance with Lord Leverhulme's wishes.
And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, etc.
Empty Homes
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.--[Mr. Brandreth.]
9.59 pm
Mr. Hartley Booth (Finchley): My debate relates to empty homes, but at this time of night it might better have related to an empty Chamber. There are 800,000 empty homes, and this important matter was the subject of my ten-minute Bill on 27 February 1996. Since then, the number of empty homes has fallen by 15,000 but that disguises the fact that public sector voids have risen. Great play is often made of the fall in the provision of new homes from nearly 400,000 in the 1960s to fewer than 200,000 in 1990.
It being Ten o'clock, the motion for the Adjournment of the House lapsed, without Question put.
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.--[Mr. Brandreth.]
While no one would suggest that the huge stock of void premises would resolve both the demand for new homes and the need to house homeless people, a fair analysis of the housing market would place much more emphasis on facilitating the release of more empty houses for use.
House builders lament the fall in the number of new homes, perhaps not surprisingly. Luminaries such as Michael Ball of South Bank university and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation conclude that more house building is needed. They make powerful arguments but they must be put alongside other factors.
The number of public sector empty homes rose last year. Local authorities voids went up from 2 to 2.3 per cent. of stock. In housing associations, voids rose from 2.4 to 2.5 per cent. In other public sector bodies, including Government Departments, voids went up from 16 to 17 per cent. More details have been supplied today to the Library.
Conventional wisdom on housing policy gives almost exclusive attention to new building. We need a wider horizon. First, new buildings often infill existing housing space and destroy the character of our neighbourhoods in north London and elsewhere. Secondly, in consequence of infilling with new houses, it is less likely that we will be able to find places off the roads to park and store the burgeoning number of vehicles that this prosperous Government have produced.
Thirdly, new land is often used because demolition and site clearance or, worse, decontamination of existing sites, are expensive. Fourthly, it takes pressure off the need to use existing housing. Fifthly, and fundamental to this debate, it is an indictment of us all that housing is kept empty. It is frustrating, and annoying to the homeless. It creates an eyesore and is a blight on adjacent housing stock. Finally, empty homes often lead to squatting, which is ghastly for all concerned.
My debate aims to examine a new way in which to encourage, and in some cases compel, the use of empty public property. I have been greatly assisted by the Empty Homes Agency. I have advised the all-party group on homelessness and housing needs of my proposals. I am pleased that there is widespread interest and support. Everyone recognises the overwhelming need to make the best possible use of our housing stock, not least because the homeless deserve the support of the House.
Dr. Robert Spink (Castle Point):
I congratulate my hon. Friend on obtaining this most important debate.
Mr. Booth:
I am grateful for that intervention, which was perspicacious, if not telepathic, because my next sentence is that I commend the concern of the magazine, The Big Issue, which has also supported my Bill.
Although this is not ten-minute rule procedure, I take this opportunity briefly to explain to the House the proposals contained in my Bill, which I believe will be useful. They are contained in an ambitious draft document entitled "The Empty Homes Bill 1997". The Bill gives formal expression to ideas on how we could better use unoccupied buildings. It requires local authorities to designate an empty property officer responsible for securing the re-use of unoccupied residential buildings owned by public bodies within the authority's area.
It is always open to a Government who might wish to introduce the policy to allow for the appointment of a surveyor from the private sector to act as such an officer, rather than add to a local authority's payroll. The officer would be empowered to investigate ownership and order the reoccupation of all unoccupied buildings owned by local authorities, Government Departments and executive agencies, including housing associations, by people in housing need. I suggest that the residential building should have been unoccupied for six months, although the precise period could be settled later.
My previous attempt to propose policy in this area was construed by some merely as an attack on local authorities. This Bill takes an all-party approach--
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Michael Morris):
Order. The hon. Gentleman will be aware that in an Adjournment debate he cannot promote a Bill. I am sure that he is referring to a document or some other piece of material.
Mr. Booth:
I am grateful to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for being so courteous in your instruction.
This document takes an all-party approach, and attacks all public bodies from both central and local government. Paragraph 2.4 of my suggested policy provides a comprehensive list of those bodies. It is important to give the new empty property officers some power, so the next section empowers them to investigate and obtain information about the ownership and control of void property, then to recover their expenses against the body responsible for that empty home.
Officers may publish details of property if they feel that publication will, in itself, secure the swift re-use of residential premises. They are also empowered to contact the owner in writing, ordering reoccupation of the building within 28 days. They can further order that the residential occupant may be a family or household in housing need. Their power to order the use of an empty property has some exemptions, one of which is the Ministry of Defence in certain circumstances. Empty homes officers can also exempt those who have satisfied them that they will use their property within six months or demolish it within that period. Obviously, in the real world one must allow for those changes.
The county court would be given the authority to supervise the proceedings and provide a safeguard to balance the needs of public bodies with the dire needs
of homeless families. The county court's power may include ordering a grant of freehold or leasehold to a family in certain circumstances. The business of property rights, however, is tricky. Public bodies own nothing in their own right but are simply trustees for all of us.
The public need to be protected and, in addition to inserting the role of the county court, the next section of my proposal ensures that, if a conflict of interests arises between an empty homes officer and his local authority, a neighbouring authority should nominate an alternative officer through the good offices of the Secretary of State, represented tonight by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, the hon. Member for Hertsmere (Mr. Clappison).
The proposers of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980, which allowed people to require the disposal of property, will find it interesting that there is an admirable example of a link with their pioneer legislation. I propose that the public request to order disposal of land and buildings procedure--what a mouthful--known as PROD for short, be harnessed to require disposal of certain homes to meet local authority or local housing need. In all cases, where freeholds are transferred, compensation will come into the equation.
Last but not least, under my Bill local authorities would be required to prepare and publish an empty properties strategy each year, to secure the re-use of unoccupied residential premises in their area. The duty follows full consultation with landlords and professional advisers, and should include information on the number of unoccupied properties in the authority area and provide details of ownership and location. Annual targets should be set, and measures that the local authority considers practical should be agreed to achieve full occupation.
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