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Mr. Allan Rogers (Rhondda): We have the same sort of problems in the Rhondda valley, especially associated with such estates, and with unemployment. One of the direct results and hidden charges is the relationship between the scenes of vandalism that my hon. Friend is describing, and general criminality. Unfortunately, it seems that, on some of the estates, the aura and ambience of criminality will not be overcome in this generation. A long-term effect on the community has been created.
Mr. Barron: Yes, I am sure that that is right--but today I shall not go into the wider issues, beyond the economics of the estates to their social problems, which are there for all to see.
Will the Minister have the time to come to the Rother valley and see for himself what action is required to speed up reinstatement and regeneration of the former Coal Board houses? I believe that action must have two main elements.
First, the sloppy handling of the sale of the houses must be rectified. There must be some mechanism to require the various owners to work together better. I do not know whether that should be through some form of compulsory purchase, but it must be done. Public money is being spent in a "patchwork quilt" way because of the ownership of the houses, and that is not good public investment for the future. None of us would choose to invest the money that we, as taxpayers, are investing in the estates in that particular way, but at the moment we have no choice because of the major problems caused by multi-ownership.
Secondly, we need to tackle the skewed system of resourcing repairs and renovations. That means putting in place a better and more coherent system for releasing money to reinstate properties. More money, in bigger blocks and more regularly paid, is needed if the estates are to recover their former prestige.
There is no doubt that the work now being done is improving the estates. The problems are slowly being solved. However, that work throws up questions about how landlords, who are not eligible for current grants, can fit in with the regeneration schemes. Some of them sit and do nothing. All they want is the rent from the properties, yet we as taxpayers may be spending money through housing associations on the house next door, to reinstate it and give it a 30-year life against which money can be borrowed. That is not common sense. If the Minister visits my constituency, I hope that he will address that issue.
Mr. Paddy Tipping (Sherwood):
I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (Mr. Ashton) for making this debate possible. I am pleased to follow my hon. Friends from coalfield communities who have spoken graphically of the pain and anger in those communities in Nottinghamshire and throughout the country.
There is no doubt that we have had 18 wasted years. Coalfield communities feel strongly that the previous Government buried the coal industry and tried to walk away. My hon. Friend the Minister should be aware that there are high aspirations for what the new Government can achieve for those communities.
People in coalfield communities are characterised by a continual desire for improvement: they always want better for their children than they have had for themselves. They want their children to have better jobs and education, and they are crying out for new investment, new hope and a new future under Labour. It is clear that new investment in housing can bring new hope.
I want to confine my remarks to the fairly narrow subject of housing associations. My hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw and others spoke of houses that have fallen into private ownership. My hon. Friend made the strong case that housing associations may have a role in acquiring those houses and renovating them. However, at present those housing associations that own ex-British Coal houses have a liability. I want them, as social landlords, to discharge that liability.
We live in a crazy world in which money from the public purse is given, through legal aid, to tenants of housing association houses to sue their landlords. It is absolutely right for us to work with housing associations and put pressure on them to do up their ex-National Coal Board houses.
In the east midlands, 1,800 houses passed to housing associations in 1984, split three ways between Leicester housing association, Nottingham community housing and East Midlands housing association. It was envisaged that they would renovate those houses, but their efforts were stymied because they were denied grant by what I consider a vindictive attitude on the part of a former Secretary of State, Nicholas Ridley. They were told that they had to fund the renovation by the sale of some of their housing stock, which has proved impossible as the housing industry has declined.
Who wants to buy a derelict house in Bilsthorpe or Calverton, say, for £15,000, £20,000 or £21,000? The associations have not been able to achieve those sales to fund the renovation of the remaining stock. We must move towards renovation and lifting the moratorium on grant for housing associations.
In the Newark and Sherwood district council area alone, 320 housing association houses in such places as Bilsthorpe, Calverton and Rainworth need repair and renovation; in the current year, only 23 are being improved. That is a good benchmark of what has happened up to now. In Newark and Sherwood alone, it will take another 16 years to put all the housing association houses back into good repair.
My hon. Friend the Minister should reconsider the moratorium. I know that he is aware of correspondence from Leicester housing association. Let me reassure him that I am not asking for extra money or for new money. I am concerned about the way in which the Housing Corporation spends its money. I know that its east midlands regional office has £2.4 million of unallocated funds for the current year. Why cannot some of that be applied to regenerating housing association properties? That would lever in more funds, and double the amount up to perhaps £5 million.
The situation in the east midlands is not unique; it is repeated throughout the country. We should examine the reserves held at regional offices. More important, let us have fairness, not favours, for coalfield communities. Housing associations want to be able to bid for housing grant. They do not understand why they should be precluded from doing that by a vindictive action of some years ago.
My hon. Friend the Minister is well versed in housing matters, and enthusiastic about energy and conservation issues. The kind of housing of which we are speaking has a national home energy rating of only 3.6; when the houses are refurbished, their energy rating rises to 9. Condensing boilers, new windows and loft and wall-cavity insulation can make them energy-efficient. We should be doing that. People should not have to live in damp and cold houses.
Coalfield communities in Nottinghamshire and throughout the country have high expectations in general, and even higher expectations of the new Labour
Government. They want new investment in housing, new hope for their families and a better future for their children. They want the blight of poor and derelict housing to be cleared up.
Mr. Michael Clapham (Barnsley, West and Penistone):
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (Mr. Ashton) on securing this debate, which is important because it gives the House the opportunity to focus on housing in coalfield communities. My hon. Friend referred to the vast number of British Coal houses--the scale is not always appreciated--that were sold off in the 1980s: the figure is between 70,000 and 80,000.
Some dwellings are still being sold off. In the most recent batch, which went along with British Coal's land sales, about 800 houses were sold. Many of them were in terrible disrepair, which is why many tenants did not want to exercise their right to buy. My hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw touched on another important reason why those houses were not bought by the tenants: many of those who lived in the houses were former miners, some of whom had been disabled in the colliery and could not work; many were retired; and many were miners' widows.
British Coal put the houses on market and, as my hon. Friend the Member for Rother Valley (Mr. Barron) pointed out, many were bought up by middle eastern business men and have changed hands time and time again, so the tenants cannot always trace the current owner.
The local authorities could not buy because they did not have the money to purchase the housing stock. At the time it was passed on to the market, there was an assault on mining communities. In the 1980s, the Government had a mentality of revenge and sold off houses without giving miners and former miners an opportunity to voice their thoughts on what ought to happen to the housing stock.
Whole villages have been sold off. Two villages in my constituency had a great deal of Coal Board housing--Dodworth on the west side of the constituency and Elsecar on the east. The contrast between the two villages is clear. At Dodworth, many people were in a position to buy their houses--they were still working in the collieries. In general, the miners bought their houses.
As my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood (Mr. Tipping) pointed out, miners were able to express their aspirations--I would say their "individuality", which is rather different from Opposition Members, who would say "individualism". Miners were able to express their individuality in their houses. Anyone who travels through Dodworth on the main Manchester road will see that the housing stock is in good repair and is a great credit to the village.
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