Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the demand and supply of housing in the private rented sector in
the implementation of their housing policy.
(CB)
My Lords, I declare my interests in rural rental properties as
set out in the register, and I beg leave to ask the Question
standing in my name on the Order Paper.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Levelling Up, Housing & Communities () (Con)
Our priority is to ensure that everyone lives in a decent and
secure home. The proportion of private rented sector households
has remained relatively stable for nearly a decade, currently
accounting for 19% of households. At present, demand for PRS
properties is greater than the available supply due to a range of
factors, and we continue to monitor the market. We will publish a
full impact assessment, setting out the costs and benefits, of
our planned private rented sector reforms.
(CB)
I thank the Minister for her response. Clearly, the supply of
houses for rent is an increasing problem. I want to focus on the
methodology of energy performance certificates used by the
Government for upgrading efficiency. By an early date yet to be
confirmed, all rental properties must have an EPC rating of C,
which is likely to be both very expensive and unachievable for
many properties. EPCs were introduced in 2007 to measure the
efficiency of a house based on average energy consumption. While
there have been adjustments, the relevant standards still take
little account of the age and character of the house, or the
carbon embodied in it, so all houses are assessed on the same
basis. Therefore, EPC remedies are often based on inappropriate
standard assumptions. Please could the Minister tell us how and
when this blunt tool will be replaced by a measurement that is
fit for purpose?
(Con)
My Lords, I do not agree that it is a blunt tool. We propose to
apply to new tenancies a requirement for an EPC rating of C and
raise the maximum spend that landlords are required to invest to
£10,000 from April 2025, and to all tenancies by April 2028—the
noble Lord is right. If we are going to meet our net-zero
strategy, we have to commit even further to consulting on phasing
in even higher minimum performance standards. That will take
place through the social housing sector but also through the
private rented sector.
(Con)
My Lords, further to the noble Lord’s original Question, is there
not an inevitable tension between the interests of the private
landlord on the one hand, who wants access to his capital or
property and is therefore interested in a short lease, and the
interests of families and tenants on the other hand, for whom
renting may now be the only tenure and who want a much longer
lease? Should we not be moving far more quickly to the position
that exists in most other countries, where good-quality rented
accommodation is provided by financial institutions as a
long-term investment, as they are more prepared to issue the long
leases that tenants increasingly want?
(Con)
My noble friend brings up an extremely important point. The
Government have always welcomed new institutional investments in
the private rented sector and will continue to do so. We have
also made a number of interventions to support the build-to-rent
sector, such as the build to rent fund and the private rented
sector guarantee scheme. Build to rent boosts housing supply and
diversifies the private rented sector, but it also increases
quality and choice for renters in cities and towns across the
country. I will take the noble Lord’s views back to the
department, and we will look into this further.
(LD)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her answer to the first part
of the Question, but does she accept that part of the reduction
in supply is due to some landlords choosing the more lucrative
Airbnb lettings and platforms, and that the Government’s policy
to restrict mortgage interest relief on buy-to-let mortgages has
inadvertently contributed to this loss of homes by exempting
those lettings from that relief? Will the Government look
seriously at this and other tax issues to level the playing field
in order to attract landlords back to much-needed longer secure
tenancies?
(Con)
The noble Baroness brings up an important point. We know that
this has become more important over the last year. We have
committed as a Government to consult on the introduction of a use
class for short-term lets; I think that is important. Subject to
the outcome of that consultation, this will help local
authorities to better control the increase of such uses where
landlords seek to use existing homes for short lets, rather than
using them for longer lets.
(Lab)
My Lords, given the ongoing cost of living crisis and the
reliance of many people for survival purposes on food banks, what
impact do the Government believe the lack of available homes to
rent is having on the ability of councils and other providers to
provide for the homeless?
(Con)
My Lords, any shortfall in the number of permanent long-term
homes available in the market will have a pressure on people
looking for those homes and could put pressure on their household
budgets, because if people are desperate for housing they will
pay more than maybe they should have to. The Government are
looking at all that. However, we have helped tenants and all
people across this country. We have put in £37 billion of support
for people who need it in 2022-23 to help us through this
difficult time, and we will continue to look at making sure that
we have as many houses of all types of tenure in our stock
available for people.
(CB)
Is it possible to look at the tragedy of increased evictions that
is happening now? Are the Government going to come up with a
solution to these two opposites: the tenants who can no longer
afford the increase in rent and the landlords who are stymied in
a similar way? We need, and I recommend, a debate in the House
about this problem.
(Con)
I am afraid that I have to answer the noble Lord that it is not
up to me to agree to a debate, but I am sure that the Front Bench
along from me has listened to what the noble Lord said. It would
be an interesting debate.
(Con)
My Lords, I recognise my noble friend’s sincerity in her initial
Answer. Nevertheless, 95,000 families are living in temporary
accommodation. In recent months, we have seen rent rises
nationally of 17% and as high as 59% in some boroughs of London.
Will my noble friend put some motion and activity behind a proper
analysis so that we can produce an urgent way forward?
(Con)
The Government have made it clear that, within this Session, they
will bring forward the private renters Bill, which will look at
the issues that my noble friend raises, as well as many others.
The Government have allocated £654 million in funding this year
and next year on homelessness and people in temporary
accommodation. Recently, because of those issues that we know are
happening, we have topped that up in December by another £50
million. We are doing everything that we can in this difficult
time to support these vulnerable people.
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
My Lords, as a serving councillor, I deal with cases of
homelessness every day. The number is increasing every day
because of eviction from private tenancies and/or the
affordability of those tenancies, and fewer landlords coming
forward. With social housing waiting lists now at over 1 million
due to decades of underinvestment in social housing and an annual
loss of 24,000 social homes a year due to demolition and sales
under the right to buy, what are the Government going to do to
address the housing emergency?
(Con)
My Lords, the Government are doing many things. When the renters
reform Bill comes through—it was a Conservative Party manifesto
commitment—it will look at these issues, particularly in the
private rented sector. However, this is a much bigger issue
across all sectors, as the noble Baroness said. We are doing an
enormous amount, as I have said and am not repeating, and will
continue to do so. Just to say, I think that an important thing
that will come out in the renters reform Bill is that we will
remove Section 21 evictions.
(CB)
My Lords, have the Government thought of supporting prefabricated
buildings for the social sector?
(Con)
The Government have not considered that, although we may have to
consider such measures for temporary accommodation as a result of
pressures due particularly to immigration from Ukraine and
Afghanistan. However, it is up to local authorities to find
innovative responses to the pressures that they are under.
