House of Commons
Wednesday 10 March 2004
The House met at half-past Eleven o'clock
PRAYERS
[Mr. Speaker in the Chair]
Oral Answers to Questions
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
The Deputy Prime Minister was asked—
Housing (Dorset)
1. Jim Knight (South Dorset) (Lab): What measures he is taking to increase the supply of affordable housing in Dorset. [159902]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Yvette Cooper): The Department has allocated £188 million to be invested in the south-west region over the next two financial years to provide over 6,000 new affordable homes in line with the recommendations of the South West regional housing board.
Jim Knight : I thank the Minister for her reply, and very much welcome that new investment in housing in my region. I look forward to learning what proportion is to be spent in Dorset, particularly as it has the highest ratio of wages to average house prices anywhere outside London. I should like to know how negotiations are going with the Department of Health over extra care housing in my constituency, particularly the Westhaven development, as it is important to provide affordable housing to rent, with extra care for elderly and vulnerable people.
Yvette Cooper: My hon. Friend is right, and I am aware of the pressures that his constituency faces. The need for affordable housing covers a wide range of supported housing needs. The amount of supported housing across the country has increased from 100,000 to 250,000 units in the past three years, and I shall certainly look closely at the proposals for his constituency.
Mr. David Curry (Skipton and Ripon) (Con): In her research into the housing situation in Dorset has the Minister studied the report of the Halifax building society on first-time buyers? Does she agree that eight out of 10 towns are now unaffordable for first-time buyers?
Yvette Cooper: There are certainly housing market pressures across the country. However, the right hon.
Gentleman's party wants to cut housing investment by £400 million and extend the right to buy to housing associations, although they do not want it. His proposals would therefore cut the supply of affordable housing and would not assist in reducing the pressures on the housing market.
Mr. Curry: So what are the Government going to do about the crisis of affordability that is spreading out from London like a stain and has resulted in fewer first-time buyers than ever before? In the south-west, for example, the average house price for first-time buyers is £123,000, and the problem is compounded by the perversity of stamp duty. Are the Government going to face up to their responsibilities or will they simply ignore the growing crisis?
Yvette Cooper: The right hon. Gentleman should face up to the failure of his sums. He is quite right that we need more access to affordable housing. We are increasing investment in affordable housing, and have doubled the levels that we inherited from the Conservatives. We have also increased investment to deal with the backlog of repairs that we inherited from the Conservatives, and commissioned the Barker review to look at the long-term issues surrounding housing supply. We have set out a series of proposals to address the problem, but the right hon. Gentleman's proposals involve cut after cut in the housing supply and affordable housing. Has he talked to the shadow Chancellor about any of that?
Mrs. Annette L. Brooke (Mid-Dorset and North Poole) (LD): What advice would the Minister give a couple in my Dorset constituency who live in unsuitable social housing? The husband earns £18,000 as a qualified social worker and they have no hope of a transfer for at least five years. What can they do?
Yvette Cooper: I obviously cannot comment on the individual case raised by the hon. Lady, but we recognise that there are specific problems facing key workers, which is why we are investing £1 billion in support for them and why the South West regional housing board has prioritised such support. We need to improve the standard of existing social housing, which is why we have made 1 million more homes decent since 1997. We must look at the supply of existing homes as well as the need for new housing.
Water Supplies (Sussex and Kent)
2. Norman Baker (Lewes) (LD): What recent assessment he has made for planning purposes of the adequacy of water supplies in Sussex and Kent. [159903]
The Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. John Prescott): We are working with the water industry and the Environment Agency both to ensure that growth areas have the necessary water infrastructure and to improve the management and conservation of existing water resources. In addition, the Environment Agency is undertaking work for the South East England regional assembly on water resources across the south-east
region that will inform the review of regional planning guidance currently being considered by the regional assembly.
Norman Baker: When the Deputy Prime Minister announced £22 million of pump-priming for 2,000 new houses in the south-east yesterday, was he aware that pressure on water resources there is so enormous that South East Water, my local water company, is applying for a desalination plant in my constituency? Is he also aware that his regional policies have led to thousands of houses being earmarked for demolition in the north while more housing is being built on scarce greenfield sites in the south-east?
The Deputy Prime Minister: The whole House is aware of the difficulties involving water shortages in the south-east. It is often said that extra housing will increase those difficulties. We have spent a considerable amount of time on the problem. In 1997, I set up the water conference, which reduced leakages by 20 per cent., saving as much water as that of 6 million households. That was a considerable saving, but we had to go further. Initially, we called on the Environment Agency and the regional council to consider shortages and deficits over a 25-year period to ensure that the regional spatial plans take account of the availability of water in view of the new developments in housing. We expect that report shortly.
Social Housing
3. Mr. John Denham (Southampton, Itchen) (Lab): What plans he has to allow tenants of social housing to share in the capital value of their homes. [159904]
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Keith Hill): As my right hon. Friend will be aware, the Government asked the home ownership taskforce to consider ways of helping social tenants into home ownership. The taskforce's recommendations include introducing a form of equity loans or bonds as an alternative to the right to buy and the right to acquire and allowing all social tenants to buy their rented home on a shared ownership basis. The Government are considering the taskforce's report and will respond shortly.
Mr. Denham : I welcome my right hon. Friend's reply. Does he share my concern at the division that is opening up, which is particularly marked in the south-east of England, between families who now own considerable assets because of the rise in the price of their homes and those in social rented housing who do not have any share in the increased value of their homes? May I urge my right hon. Friend to complete his consideration of the proposals as swiftly as possible in order to introduce practical legislation to address the issue?
Keith Hill: I entirely agree with my right hon. Friend. As 70 per cent. of our population enjoy home ownership, it is perfectly reasonable to aspire to that. We recognise, however, that total home ownership is likely to be out of the reach of many social tenants. That is why we are examining with a due sense of urgency several options that will enable tenants and public
landlords to share in property values, thereby giving people a stake in their own homes and contributing to the creation of mixed-tenure sustainable communities.
Mr. Patrick McLoughlin (West Derbyshire) (Con): Given today's earnings, what is the Government's definition of affordable housing?
Keith Hill: The Government's definition of affordable housing is housing that becomes available on a large scale to those who are in need of it. That is why, in the period since 1997, we have assisted in the provision of nearly 250,000 affordable homes.
Geraldine Smith (Morecambe and Lunesdale) (Lab): I welcome my right hon. Friend's comments on shared ownership, because it is important for people to have a stake in the ownership of their homes. Will he ensure that English Partnerships, which, along with Lancashire city council, has put a great deal of money into Morecambe, seriously considers the possibility of shared ownership schemes that will help a large number of my constituents get on to the housing ladder?
Keith Hill: I am delighted with the progress that English Partnerships is making in my hon. Friend's constituency. English Partnerships is working with the Housing Corporation to evolve programmes for effective social housing in all its projects.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |