Andrew Western (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab) I beg to move, That
this House has considered the cost of living and the private rented
sector. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq.
I am pleased to have secured this debate on an aspect of the cost
of living crisis that does not get the attention it deserves: the
huge financial challenges facing private renters. Much focus is
rightly placed on the Tory mortgage bombshell that is causing
misery...Request free trial
(Stretford and Urmston)
(Lab)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the cost of living and the private
rented sector.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq.
I am pleased to have secured this debate on an aspect of the cost
of living crisis that does not get the attention it deserves: the
huge financial challenges facing private renters. Much focus is
rightly placed on the Tory mortgage bombshell that is causing
misery for millions of homeowners, but we should not forget that
this crisis also affects renters, who are seeing increased
mortgage costs passed down to them as a result, or landlords
selling up and leaving them at the mercy of a market in which
rents are soaring. It is the latest blow to renters, whose home
lives are already characterised by insecurity and extortionate
costs. For many of the approximately 11.6 million people
privately renting in this country, the situation is becoming
increasingly untenable. Average rents in the UK are almost 10%
higher than they were in 2020, and rents on new tenancies
recorded by Zoopla have increased by 22% since March 2021.
National statistics do not tell the whole story, as they mask
staggering increases in certain areas. For example, average
monthly rents for lets in my home borough of Trafford were £1,093
per month in January 2023—a 12% increase on the year before. Rent
as a share of income is at its highest level in over a decade, at
28% of average earnings, rising to 40% in London. That is among
the highest in the OECD, and around three times higher than in
Germany and France. Evidence from Shelter shows that a third of
private tenants are now spending over half of their monthly
income on rent.
The steep increases are a result of local housing allowance rates
being frozen since 2020. In the past year, the number of private
rented homes that are affordable on LHA dropped by some 55%. When
less than one in five private rents in England is viable for
those on LHA, and virtually everyone accepts that there is not
enough social housing, what do we expect low-income renters to
do? Grim figures released by the Office for National Statistics
last week revealed that one in seven renters have reported
running out of food and being unable to afford more. According to
Shelter, almost 2.4 million renters are behind on their rent or
consistently struggle to pay it. It is clear that renters have
been experiencing the cost of living crisis for some time and are
reaching breaking point.
Let me illustrate the situation by sharing some stories from my
constituency of Stretford and Urmston. A single mum recently
contacted my office in desperate need of help. She has two
children, one of whom is disabled, with multiple health issues
that mean she is now awaiting the fourth surgery of her young
life. My constituent told me:
“The cost of living crisis makes it impossible to stay where I
am.”
The family, unable to afford their rent, are now homeless and
living in temporary accommodation under a level of stress that I
cannot begin to imagine.
Another mum from my constituency suffers from a tumour on her
spine, as well as anxiety and depression. She is currently living
with her baby in a third-floor flat with no lift. There is mould
in the flat, which is making her baby and her ill. She is in
arrears, as the flat is so mouldy that she has been spending £100
a week trying to heat it. She has recently been issued with a
section 8 eviction notice by a landlord who will not even return
her messages.
I thank both constituents for allowing me to share their stories
today, but the sad reality is that their experience is not
uncommon. I could provide dozens of examples from my constituency
alone, and many hundreds more, as a result of the engagement work
that the parliamentary engagement team did in advance of the
debate. On behalf of my constituents, and every other renter
living under this intolerable pressure, I ask the Minister why
support is so slow to arrive. Why is the plight of renters so
often ignored? What will the Government do to help? The Renters
(Reform) Bill, first promised in 2019, yet introduced only in May
2023, is moving at a snail’s pace—still no Second Reading, two
months on from First Reading. During that time, the House has
risen early on 10 occasions, which tells us the simple truth that
this is not an issue of parliamentary scheduling; it is an issue
of priorities.
We are going into a summer where, according to Generation Rent, a
section 21 eviction claim—something the Government promised to
end—is being made once every 15 minutes. That means that 96
tenants a day will be forced to find new homes over the summer,
in this incredibly difficult market. Inevitably, that means that
renters will be forced into cheaper substandard parts of the
market, where approximately 600,000 homes pose a serious risk to
health, with issues such as damp and mould.
Some renters will fare even worse, and be made homeless, adding
to the shameful record of this Government, under which the number
of people living in temporary accommodation has increased by 97%
since 2010. The Government are sitting on the sidelines as our
housing market, from rents to mortgages, is in crisis. Because of
that, the situation is set to get even worse, with rents now
expected to rise by 6.5% by the end of 2023, and the number of
homeless people potentially reaching 300,000.
As the chief executive of the charity, Crisis, has said,
low-income renters are facing a “catastrophe”. The Labour party
grasps the urgency of the situation. Our renters’ charter will
deliver substantial new rights and protections for tenants,
including longer notice periods and, finally, a ban on no-fault
evictions. Ultimately, the cost of living crisis for private
renters is, at its core, another symptom of our broken housing
market. The increased demand for private rentals, driven by years
of Government failure to invest in genuinely affordable social
homes, is the major reason why rents are so high. The only
solution to this, and to the wider housing crisis, is to build,
build, build. That is not just my view. The Levelling Up, Housing
and Communities Committee says in its report on the private
rented sector:
“The affordability crisis in the private rented sector, the
source of many of the other problems in the sector, can only be
properly solved by a significant increase in house building,
particularly affordable housing.”
(Brighton, Kemptown)
(Lab/Co-op)
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Does he acknowledge
that we have more houses now per head than we did in the 1950s?
It is not just a crisis of the number of units but, as he has
just said, it is the tenure of those units that is vitally
important. If we do not get that mix right, the crisis will not
be solved.
My hon. Friend is right and, like him, I look forward to a Labour
Government ensuring that social rent is returned to the second
highest form of tenure. We retain a significant shortage of homes
overall. We are nowhere near where we should be, compared with
the European average. He is correct, and I agree, that we are in
desperate need of a significant increase in social homes, up and
down this country.
Conservatives seem to have given up on building, as demonstrated
by their capitulation on housing targets, which will leave house
building at its lowest since the second world war. Only last
week, we learned that, under this Government, we are in a
situation where, despite the UK being short of approximately 4
million homes, the Department that is meant to build those homes
is handing back £1.9 billion to the Treasury after failing to
find housing projects to spend it on. I am pretty sure that, had
the Minister sought advice or support from Members in this room
and beyond, that money could have been well spent.
Thankfully, Labour has not given up on house building. Reforming
planning rules, reintroducing house building targets, building on
parts of the green belt that are in fact far from green, and, as
I have just discussed with my hon. Friend the Member for
Brighton, Kemptown (), restoring social
housing to the second largest form of tenure will be key drivers
in our mission to achieve the fastest growth in the G7.
I congratulate the shadow Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for
Greenwich and Woolwich (), on all his work to
raise this issue and to promote house building but, as he knows,
I would go further still. Our 76-year-old planning system needs
to be scrapped so that we can shift away from a discretionary
system at the mercy of nimbyism towards one that is rules-based,
underpinned by a flexible zoning code and determined nationally
for local implementation. Only then will we be sure that we can
build the number of homes, and the types and tenures of property,
that we require.
Does my hon. Friend welcome the Labour party’s proposal to
empower local councils to set up development bodies, which would
not only be reactive in the planning policy debate, but would be
proactive, in the sense that they could buy up land at the
current land-value cost rather than inflated future costs, and
develop it themselves or with partners?
My hon. Friend makes an important point. I welcome the Labour
party’s commitment not only to end the hope value that exists in
the sale of land at present but, as he says, to introduce the
vehicles that empower local authorities to build. As a formal
local authority leader, I know how challenging it is,
particularly without a housing revenue account, to build those
homes, and therefore to influence the place-shaping of
communities. It is imperative that local authorities can do that
to ensure that we get the homes that our local neighbourhoods
require.
(Twickenham) (LD)
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this important
debate. I am a London MP, representing a constituency in
south-west London. On average, renters in London are spending
almost 50% of their pre-tax income on rent, and the housing
supply in the private rental sector has dropped dramatically. The
impact is that our key workers—our nurses and teachers—cannot
afford to live in the capital, and young families are being
driven out, which is demonstrated in falling school rolls.
However, London Councils says that local authorities could be
building 143,000 new social homes; they are ready to do that, but
they just need the funding. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that
the Government need urgently to come forward with that cash so we
can boost the supply of social housing in our capital?
I agree with the points made by the hon. Lady. I commend the work
of the local authorities that are leading the way in building
social and affordable homes in an incredibly difficult climate.
It is not an easy thing to do with the way the grant regime is
set up, but I know how fixated council leaders are on tackling
the housing crisis, particularly in places such as London and my
constituency in Greater Manchester, where prices are driving key
workers and low-income workers out of the local area, which
causes all sorts of issues with labour shortages and the
provision of skills that we desperately need.
I support planning reform, but it will not be easy. Difficult
choices must be made to end the gross inequities of our housing
market. In the current system, we are set to spend more on
housing benefit than on building affordable homes, and renting is
no longer a step in the journey towards owning a home, but an
expensive, insecure quagmire, dragging down a generation of
younger people. The cost of living crisis is affecting us all,
but especially private renters. They are generally, younger,
poorer, more vulnerable people, trapped in the vicious circle of
a broken rental market. It is no wonder that Sky News found last
week that low-income private renters are suffering the most in
the current financial climate, and the need for action to tackle
this social catastrophe is now acute. Labour has shown that it
gets this. I hope that when the Minister responds to the debate,
she will show that she understands it too.
(in the Chair)
Members should bob up and down if they wish to speak, so we can
calculate how long everyone gets.
2.45pm
(Christchurch) (Con)
It is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship, Dr Huq.
I had not intended to participate in this debate, but having
listened to what the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston
() said in introducing his
debate, I wondered where the issue of supply comes into this
equation. The crisis in the rented housing sector is largely one
of a lack of supply. When I had the privilege of being a junior
housing Minister in the 1980s, we transformed the supply of
rented housing by introducing the Housing Act 1988, which freed
up tenancies and introduced shorthold tenancies. It enabled those
with surplus accommodation to let it out through agreements under
which they realised that, if they wanted to recover possession,
they could do so at a time of their choosing and by agreement
with the tenants. As a result of the 1988 Act, the supply of
private rented housing in this country soared, and the sector was
completely transformed for the better.
Does the hon. Member recognise that 50% of former council houses
that have been sold off are now just rented out, rather than
providing stable homes? The reforms that he talks about have led
to an increase in private rents above and beyond the inflation in
the housing market, less home ownership, less stability in the
housing market and more insecurity. They have partly caused the
crisis that we are in now.
Obviously, I do not accept that analysis, and I certainly do not
accept the hon. Gentleman’s proposition that, just because
somebody lets out a property that used to be a council property,
that somehow means it is a meaningless value to the person
renting it. If a former council tenant buys a house and
ultimately chooses to let it out, that property is available in
the private rented sector. On supply, a lot of people in that
sort of situation are now withdrawing their properties from the
rental market, thereby reducing the supply and forcing up
pressure on costs and rents.
Does the hon. Gentleman agree with the chief executive of the
National Residential Landlords Association that it is a myth that
landlords are leaving the market, that in fact the private rented
sector is growing, despite further regulation, and that there is
no evidence that the private rented sector is being vacated? Some
people are leaving, but more people are joining.
I do not accept that, because I have looked in vain at the impact
assessment that accompanies the Renters (Reform) Bill—I looked at
the latest iteration a couple of weeks back—and the Regulatory
Policy Committee condemned that impact assessment as totally
inadequate in dealing with the consequences of the reforms for
the supply of housing from the private rented sector. The
Government’s own impact assessment does not answer the question
as to the quantity and quality of private rented accommodation
that would be available were those reforms to be implemented. One
can only assume that the Government either do not know the answer
to that question or do not wish to disclose it.
As somebody who believes in the market, my instinct is that, if
we put pressure on potential suppliers of a product through
regulation, the likely consequence is that the potential
suppliers will withdraw some of that product from the
marketplace. That is exactly what is happening at the moment. One
of the figures used by the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston
in introducing the debate was the large increase in section 21
evictions. My understanding—admittedly, it is only anecdotal—is
that that is because private landlords now feel that they are
going to be squeezed by both a nominally Conservative Government
and the prospect of a real socialist Government, both of whom are
basically anti-private landlord and are determined
The Renters (Reform) Bill has only been printed and had its First
Reading—it has yet to receive a Second Reading, which is a
complaint from the Opposition—but I hope the Government withdraw
that legislation, because the mere fact that it has been printed
in the form of a Bill is driving a large number of people away
from renting out their private homes and causing them to bring
property back under their control, with a view to selling it. A
lot of the property that is available for sale at the moment is
property that was formerly rented.
(Glasgow South West)
(SNP)
May I take the hon. Gentleman back to his analysis—I will be
polite and say “analysis”—of section 21 evictions? If there is
fear of a Labour Government, can he explain why so many Members
of Parliament are having to move out of their London
accommodation? Landlords are putting up prices by so much, and
when an MP says to the landlord, “Let’s negotiate,” they are
immediately served with a section 21 eviction notice. If
landlords are doing that to Members of Parliament, surely they
can do it to anybody else. That why the legislation needs to be
scrapped.
Surely a landlord should have the right to decide whether they
wish to rent out a property. If they decide that they cannot rent
it at a price that they think is reasonable, they can withdraw it
from the marketplace.
The hon. Gentleman raises an interesting point about Members of
Parliament and the rented sector. When I was first a Member of
the House, we had a system whereby the taxpayer subsidised the
cost of Members of Parliament renting a second home. Then the
rules were changed, because it was decided that it was very poor
value for taxpayers to keep on paying rent for Members of
Parliament. The rules were changed to allow Members of Parliament
to take out a mortgage on their constituency home or second home,
and the interest on that mortgage, rather than rent, was paid by
the authorities in Parliament. That was because prices in the
rental market could only increase, and it is why, traditionally
in this country, most people choose to be owner-occupiers, rather
than renters, if they can afford it.
The point was made earlier about the reduction in the number of
people who own their home, particularly among the younger
generation. It is really sad and a chronic problem. Between 1
million and 2 million more people would probably own their home
if we had the same policies in place for home ownership as we had
in the late 1980s. The advantages of home ownership include
flexibility, and the fact that when someone retires, they will
probably have paid off their mortgage and not have any ongoing
housing payments. It also means that people can be mobile; if
their job takes them to another part of the country, they can
move. All the rigidities in the private rented sector were
reduced, to an extent, by the 1988 legislation, but it seems that
there is pressure, from both my Government and the Opposition, to
reintroduce a lot of the controls. That would make it very
difficult for somebody to move from one private rented home to
another in another part of the country for a job.
The supply of private rented housing is key, and nothing
suggested by the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston would do
anything other than reduce the supply of private rented
accommodation.
(Cynon Valley) (Lab)
The hon. Gentleman is arguing very strongly on behalf of
landlords in the private rented sector, but the overwhelming
evidence shows that the majority of tenants are on a low income.
Their tenure is often insecure, and the properties are often low
quality, with damp and mould. Did you consult tenants? Can you
speak on behalf of the tenants who are suffering?
(in the Chair)
Order. The “you” should be “he”.
I shall try to address the hon. Lady’s remarks by saying that in
my constituency, there is a lot of social rented accommodation,
and to suggest that poor-quality accommodation with damp and
mould is the exclusive purview of the private landlord is a
complete travesty of the facts. In much of the social rented
sector, the stock is very poor quality, insulation standards are
very low, repair standards leave much to be desired, and rents
are increasing. This year, the Government have allowed social
rents to go up by 7%. The point was made just now that there may
be a 6.5% increase in private sector rents by the end of
2023.
There is a problem right across the rental market—it is not
confined to private landlords—but one thing is absolutely
certain: if we restrict the supply of private rented
accommodation, rents will go up, and the Government’s response
will be to control the rents, which will produce an even worse
result. Landlords will not even have the resources to maintain
their properties in good repair. Those of us who were privileged
to be around in the late 1970s and to see the state of the
accommodation across much of our urban areas, particularly
London, know that that resulted from years and years of neglect
by the public sector, and of penalising the private sector and
driving it out of business. My concern is that we should not get
back into that scenario. I hope that when my hon. Friend the
Minister winds up the debate, she will confirm that the
Government will not go ahead with the renters’ reform
legislation, because that will have the perverse consequence of
reducing supply and increasing rent.
My final point is about population. The population of this
country is expanding exponentially and unsustainably. Since 1990,
which is also the base date for measuring CO2 omissions, the
population of this country has gone up by between 10 million and
11 million, or about 20%. Last year and the year before, net
migration was more than 600,000. The number of people who wish to
live in this country is increasing far faster than our ability to
provide rental accommodation for them.
(in the Chair)
Order. I am told by the Clerk that we are straying from the terms
of the debate. There are others who want to get in.
I have given way a lot, and hope that I have been able to give
some more balance to the debate. My hon. Friend the Minister
should not forget the undoubted success of the 1988 reforms, and
should remember that she is a Minister in a Conservative
Government.
Several hon. Members rose—
(in the Chair)
We will go to an informal limit of six minutes, and will start
with .
2.59pm
(Pontypridd) (Lab)
As ever, it is an honour to serve with you in the Chair, Dr Huq,
and an honour to take part in this debate, brought forward by my
hon. Friend the Member for Stretford and Urmston (). It is really important
and timely, because the cost of living crisis rages on. Inflation
is at its highest for 41 years, and thousands of our constituents
up and down the country are falling into poverty. I have no doubt
but that since the emergence of the crisis, every colleague in
this Chamber will have heard, in their advice surgery, harrowing
stories—perhaps more of them than ever before—of suffering and
difficulty. Indeed, when I hosted a dedicated cost of living
support event in Rhydyfelin just a few weeks ago, I heard story
after story from terrified residents who felt that they just
could not make ends meet any more. They told me that it felt as
though the walls were closing in. That is the reality of Tory
Britain today.
It is the same story across the country. One in seven people in
the UK goes hungry because they cannot afford to eat. According
to recent research from the Trussell Trust, an estimated 11.3
million people have faced hunger in the past year. That is double
Scotland’s population. This Tory Government have presided over
the largest slide in living standards in a generation, in the
sixth-largest economy in the world. That is a shameful indictment
of the Government’s record. As colleagues will no doubt be aware,
a staggering fifth of our population lives in poverty—13.4
million people. The Prime Minister has hedged his bets on
delivering on those laughable five priorities, but so far he has
failed to get a grip on inflation, or do anything of substance to
help the thousands of families and households who are
suffering.
We have nothing but inaction from this zombie Tory Government,
who are asleep at the wheel while our constituents face the
impossible decision of whether to pay the rent or feed
themselves. In recent months, we have heard much about the impact
of the Tory mortgage penalty on homeowners, and the mortage
market has capsized, thanks to the Tories’ incompetence, but it
is absolutely right that today’s debate should highlight the
incredibly difficult conditions that our constituents in the
private rental sector face. Thousands of people are already
struggling with rent arrears from the pandemic, but now, on
average, renters are having to spend a third of their income—or,
more often than not, half—on rent. We desperately need reform in
the private rental sector. One of the most urgent changes for
which Labour and housing campaigners have been calling for years
is reform of the cruel practice of no-fault evictions. Tenants
already suffering under impossible conditions thanks to inflation
and the cost of living crisis frequently face eviction by their
landlord, just for reporting disrepair or mould.
Colleagues will be aware that the Tory Government promised to ban
no-fault evictions in England way back in 2019, three whole Prime
Ministers ago. The disgraced former Prime Minister also promised to ban them,
but we are all familiar with his reputation for breaking
promises. Of course, the disastrous short-lived tenure of the
right hon. Member for South West Norfolk () as Prime Minister hardly
left her time to act on no-fault evictions. It is shameful that
it has taken the Tory Government four years to act on their
manifesto commitment to introduce a Bill banning the vile
practice.
The Renters (Reform) Bill looks set to be delayed once again. As
we have heard, First Reading took place in May, but colleagues
will not be able to debate the Bill until September at the
earliest. With every day of delay that passes, the Government are
letting down thousands of renters in desperate circumstances.
This is more dither and delay from a hapless Tory Government who
seem to have given up the ghost. There is zero progress on
debating the Bill, let alone passing it into law.
A staggering 65,000 households have faced homelessness through
no-fault evictions since the Government first pledged to act, but
I am pleased to say that the Welsh Labour Government are leading
the way. The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 is the biggest change
to housing law in Wales for decades. The Welsh Government have
taken the bold step of extending the notice of eviction that
landlords must serve to their tenants to six months. That is a
vital period of respite. The measure will go a long way towards
reassuring renters in difficult situations. England is the only
nation in the UK without a mandatory landlord register; the
devolved nations, including the Welsh Labour Government, have had
such a register for years. That is yet more evidence that this
Tory Government are just not interested in helping vulnerable
tenants in the private rental sector.
Before I finish, I would like to give one anecdote. We all have
hundreds from our constituency surgeries, but the one that hit me
hardest was from a resident of Tonyrefail. She has rented her
house for 14 years, and is the single mum of a young daughter.
Recently, she got in touch with me because she is being evicted
by her landlord of 14 years. The landlord is putting up her rent
from £425 to £650 per calendar month—a 50% increase in the rent.
How is that reasonable? Where is the compassion? Where is she
meant to find that extra money every month?
We urgently need action to help those in private tenancies who
are already exhausted from the cost of living crisis, but with
zero leadership from the Tory Government, it is clear that only a
general election, and a Labour Government, will deliver the
change that we desperately need. I urge the Minister to bring
forward legislation as soon as is possible. We desperately need
it on the statute book. Renters can no longer wait.
3.04pm
(Cynon Valley) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I
congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Stretford and Urmston
() on securing this vital
debate. We are living through a housing crisis in the United
Kingdom, and there is a desperate lack of affordable, accessible,
suitable and settled accommodation for millions of people across
the United Kingdom. At the same time, we are suffering the
greatest cost of living crisis in living memory, with rising
rents, extortionate energy costs, food bills rising,
below-inflation pay rises and inadequate social security
benefits. This is a perfect storm, and nowhere more so than in
the private rented sector, as others have commented.
Data from last week shows that private renters are five times
more likely to struggle financially than homeowners. The private
rented sector is now bigger than the social rented sector, and
the demography of the people using the private rented sector has
changed quite significantly. They tend to be older people,
families and those on low incomes. Private renting tends to be
insecure, and the accommodation tends to be in poor condition. If
Government Members cared to look at research by Shelter, Crisis
and many others—the Chartered Institute of Housing has written a
lot about this—they would see that hundreds of thousands of
people have been forced to accept properties that are either
unsuitable or in poor condition. They are living in damp, mouldy
and overcrowded accommodation, because that is all that they can
afford. That is a major issue in the private rented sector.
The increasing competition for private rented properties means
that there are increases in rents. Private rent prices increased
by about 5% last year. Low pay is the cause of housing issues for
millions of people, but many of those on low incomes are unable
to afford private rent because of the complete inadequacy of the
local housing allowance, which has been frozen since 2020. More
than half of those receiving LHA have a shortfall. In Wales,
during the first two weeks of February, just 1.2% of properties
advertised on the formal rental market were available at or below
LHA rates. That is absolutely shocking. That is putting
unbearable pressure on families. There was an almost 70% increase
in repossessions across the UK between January and March last
year. Local authorities are doing what they can to help, through
the discretionary housing payment scheme, but that is
insufficient to meet the shortfall. Wales spent 155% of its
discretionary housing payment allocation on support for housing
costs. That is much more than any region in England.
The evidence is clear: the Government must restore local housing
allowance rates and re-link them to rents, so that they cover at
least the cheapest 30% of local rents. As others have commented,
we have been inundated by constituents with an array of housing
problems, including problems with affordability in the private
rented sector. One lady has taken on a kinship caring
responsibility, but she is being penalised by the system. She was
unable to afford rent; she had assistance via the discretionary
housing payment, but it was insufficient, and she is now in
arrears with her utilities. That is not acceptable in the
fifth-richest nation in the world. The quickest and most
effective way to keep people in their home is for the Government
urgently to invest in local housing allowance, so that it covers
the true cost of rents.
The Renters (Reform) Bill does not address cost issues, so, as my
hon. Friend the Member for Pontypridd () mentioned, the Welsh
Government are leading the way. They have just opened a
consultation on fair rents and affordability. They are seeking
evidence on defining “local income” and “fair rent”, as well as
setting out proposals for fair rent and affordability. ACORN in
Wales commented that rent controls are “the bare minimum
response”, but it is pleased to see the Welsh Government
considering rent controls. Rent controls must be considered. I
completely agree with the comments of the Bevan Foundation: it
endorses rent controls, but says that we must also increase the
provision of social housing, reform the social security system,
and take action to improve security of tenure.
To conclude, if we are to address the UK’s horrendous housing
crisis, we need a holistic approach that also looks outside
housing. We need to challenge the capitalist neoliberal system,
which allows the few to benefit at the expense of the many.
Housing is more than bricks and mortar; it is a home. We need to
look at housing in a different way. Diolch yn fawr.
3.10pm
(Barnsley East) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq, and to
follow my hon. Friend the Member for Cynon Valley (). I congratulate my hon.
Friend the Member for Stretford and Urmston () on securing this important
debate.
The cost of living crisis has hit people across the country hard.
The price of food, fuel and household bills have soared at the
same time as wages have fallen in real terms, and 13 years of
consecutive Conservative Governments has seen family budgets
squeezed at the longest and deepest levels since records began in
the 1950s. One of the biggest household expenditures, of course,
is a place to live, whether that is a rented or mortgaged
property, and that means monthly rent or payments. Almost one in
five households in England live in the private rented sector, and
that number is rising as the cost of home ownership rises,
too.
As we have heard today, people who live in the private rented
sector face a number of challenges. The charity Crisis found that
private rents rose by an average of 11% across the country in
2022, but household allowances and people’s wages have not kept
pace with the rise. Between January and March 2023, landlord
repossessions increased by 69%. More people are struggling to
support themselves and their families, and, of course, if they
live in the private rented sector, they often live in fear that
they will be evicted through a no-fault eviction notice. As we
have heard, this Government promised to abolish no-fault
evictions in their 2019 manifesto, but they have not done so to
date.
Privately renting in this country is far too insecure. Renters
not only face the prospect of no-fault eviction, but can have
their rent raised considerably at short notice. Landlords are
piling the rising costs on to tenants, or in some cases simply
putting prices up to the highest level they can get away with.
One distressed constituent contacted me after they, along with
their partner and four-year-old, were forced to move back in with
their parents because their private rented property was
repossessed. Their sibling and nephew are also living with their
parents—all sharing one bathroom and toilet. Family members are
suffering health issues because of the stress of the situation,
and relationships are fraying.
Having somewhere to live should not be a luxury. A number of
people living in private rented properties in Barnsley have
contacted me about the quality of their housing. They have
described having to put up with conditions that make it unfit to
live in: plaster falling off the walls, areas of rising damp,
windows that will not shut and unresolved structural issues. That
needs to change. A Labour Government would pay the private sector
the urgent attention it needs by introducing the private renters’
charter, which would ban no-fault evictions, lengthen
repossession notices and introduce a code of practice for letting
agents.
Too many people are being forced to make difficult choices just
to keep a roof over their head, and the poorest in society are
suffering the most from the cost of living crisis. I have spoken
today about those living in the private rented sector, but of
course people across Barnsley, whether they rent or own, are
struggling. The Tory mortgage bombshell has cost mortgage owners
£1,500 extra a year, and in Barnsley that is in the context of
poverty rates that are higher than the national average. Over
40,000 residents in the borough are in fuel poverty, 11 children
in every class of 30 are living in poverty and workers are on
average £100 a month worse off than in previous years.
I have spoken to many constituents at the various cost of living
advice surgeries that I have hosted across Barnsley East, and
they have told me about the real impact of the cost of living
crisis on their health and wellbeing. As we saw from the ONS
report a few weeks ago, levels of anxiety and depression are at
their highest in over 15 years, and life expectancy in areas such
as Barnsley is significantly lower than the national average. The
cost of living crisis has a real impact not just on people’s
day-to-day existence but on their future. I hope that the
Government are listening to the debate, and I look forward to
hearing from the Minister.
3.14pm
Mrs (Birmingham, Erdington)
(Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq. I
thank my hon. Friend the Member for Stretford and Urmston () for securing this
incredibly important debate.
The cost of living is one of the most difficult challenges facing
people across the UK. It comes up on the doorstep and in my
constituency surgeries in Erdington, Kingstanding and Castle Vale
time after time. My constituents, just like many people across
the UK, are really struggling to manage the rising costs of
energy and food. A constituent told me that they cannot even pay
their bills, let alone start paying off their debts. This is all
while residents have been hit by the Tory mortgage
bombshell—either as homeowners or as renters absorbing costs
through higher rents. One of my constituents said:
“Our rent was increased twice within the space of a few
months”.
That feeling of helplessness is sadly not unique to communities
such as mine. Shelter estimated that on a single night in 2022,
there were more than 20,000 homeless people across the west
midlands and more than 14,000 in Birmingham. That is equivalent
to one in 80 people in the region. We know that the cost of
living crisis is pushing more people than ever out of secure
housing, with no-fault evictions increasing by 116% this
year.
One of my constituents was issued with a section 21 notice. She
lives with her son and is a foster carer for her three
grandchildren. She has been renting her home for the last six
years, but her landlord has decided to sell the property and now
she does not even know where they will be living this time next
month.
I am sorry to interrupt the flow of the hon. Lady’s speech, but
she gave startling statistics on homelessness in the west
midlands. I wonder whether she is aware that in London, where the
homelessness crisis is probably at its most acute, a shocking one
in 23 children is homeless. That is, on average, one in every
classroom. In constituencies such as mine—Twickenham, in the
London Borough of Richmond—very little emergency accommodation is
available to the council. Families who come to my surgery are
having to come in from as far afield as Croydon, Slough and the
upper reaches of north London to get to school. That is
particularly difficult if their child is on an education, health
and care plan. Does the hon. Lady agree with me that as well as
urgently building more social housing, a short-term fix for some
of these problems is to increase the local housing allowance
urgently?
Mrs Hamilton
I thank the hon. Lady for that question. I absolutely agree with
her that the allowance needs to be increased. The situation is
just going from bad to worse. At the moment, to say that we must
tighten our belt, as the Prime Minister has said, is just not
good enough. Sometimes we have to spend so that we can ensure
that our citizens are being taken care of.
There are real, human implications from the Conservatives’
failure to end no-fault evictions. Since they promised to do so
three years ago, more than 50,000 households—like my
constituent’s—have been threatened with homelessness under
section 21. Where people can find housing, it is not always
suitable or even safe.
In Erdington, we have real problems with houses in multiple
occupation and exempt accommodation. In April 2023, the ward of
Stockland Green in my constituency was assessed as having 271
HMOs. That places the ward sixth highest in Birmingham, with an
increase of 39 properties this year; it is reducing family homes
in that area. I hear regularly from constituents living in
so-called supported housing complaints about anything and
everything from bedbugs and disrepair to serious concerns about
fire safety, fly-tipping and antisocial behaviour.
In the last month alone, two new planning applications have been
made for HMOs in my constituency. One is to turn a three-bedroom
property into a seven-bed HMO, and one is to turn a former pub
into a 10-bed HMO. I led a campaign calling on local people to
object, and our petition collected the support of 398 concerned
residents in a week. That is an issue that my constituents and I
feel strongly about, and it is not going away. The only way to
fix the housing crisis is to build far more social housing. Under
the Conservatives, the number of new social rented homes has
fallen by over 80%. Labour will build more social homes, ban
no-fault evictions and prioritise boosting our economy so we can
fix the broken housing market. The bottom line is that everyone
deserves a secure and safe home, but sadly right now my
constituents and people across the UK cannot have one because
they are paying the price of a Tory Government. It is time for
change.
3.20pm
(Leicester East) (Ind)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I
congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Stretford and Urmston
() for bringing forward this
extremely important debate. The UK is a country shamed by the
poverty of its people and especially of its children. The
Government’s failure to act to curb the corporate profiteering
that is driving inflation is just one of many ways in which the
Government are fanning the flames of the cost of living
emergency. In this country, 14.5 million people live in poverty
and 4.3 million of them are children. In the last full calendar
year, real-terms wages fell by 3.1% while, according to the
latest ONS figures, private rents rose by 5% in the year to
May.
Figures from Generation Rent tell us that private rents have
increased by 22% since March 2021 and have been pushed up further
in response to even higher interest rates and as landlords take
advantage of the crisis to improve profits. As a result, private
renters in England pay up to 40% of their median household income
on rent. Rent as a share of income is at its highest level in
over a decade. While the Scottish Government took action last
year to at least temporarily cap rent increases at 0% through the
Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022, the
Westminster Government have allowed rents to be driven by the
market and by greed, with little thought for the additional
burden it places on the backs of those already going under.
The Government’s Renters (Reform) Bill, which was introduced in
May almost a year after the planned reforms were announced, has
seen its Second Reading delayed until at least the autumn, with
no date yet announced despite the imminent recess. Meanwhile,
more than 4 million households that rent privately—a number that
has doubled in the two decades of failure to build council and
social housing—continue to face unsecure tenancies, arbitrary and
back-door section 21 no-fault evictions and often appalling
living conditions. In the middle of a cost of living crisis, they
are also paying over £570 a year more than they need to in energy
costs, according to E3G, because of landlords’ refusal to upgrade
heating systems and insulation. As a result, fuel poverty charity
National Energy Action has noted that private renters are more
likely to be fuel poor than people in all other types of tenure
and more likely to live in the leakiest properties, often needing
to spend thousands of pounds more than the average household just
to keep a healthy temperature at home.
We have seen, in the case of the odious Illegal Migration Bill,
just how quickly this Government can force legislation through
Parliament when they have a mind to do so. Against the backdrop
of a perfect storm of misery for millions living in privately
rented accommodation, the Government must—yes, must—urgently
publish an accelerated timetable for the Renters (Reform) Bill
and combat the affordability crisis in private renting, which is
absent from the proposed measures, but will at least go some way
toward reducing the injustice and inequality of private rent.
3.25pm
(Glasgow South West)
(SNP)
I am delighted to see you in the Chair, Dr Huq. I congratulate
the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston () on leading the debate. I
always like and enjoy listening to his contributions. He follows
a fantastic former Member of Parliament, , who represented his
constituency very well. He used his local authority experience,
which is very important when discussing such issues.
The related issues of the cost of living and the private rented
sector should be of great concern to members of all political
parties as they affect the wellbeing of people in each of the
nations of these islands. Much of what we are discussing today is
centred on the experiences of people in England and Wales, so I
will contribute a Scottish perspective. There have been some
criticisms, from some sources, of the SNP-led Scottish Government
and how they have handled the private rented sector. What Members
will hear from me are the views of other interested organisations
that contradict those misgivings and are supportive of the stance
the Government have taken in Scotland.
We are familiar with the factors that have contributed to the
current cost of living crisis, although some might question how
much those factors have contributed, or even whether they have
contributed at all—for example, Brexit—but no one will dispute
that the war in Ukraine has driven up the price of oil, with a
consequent massive increase in domestic energy costs. Russia’s de
facto blockade of the Black sea has also resulted in Ukraine’s
exports dropping to one sixth of the pre-war level, causing grain
prices to rise dramatically. We have all seen the effects on the
price levels on supermarket shelves. Covid has also played an
obvious part in taking us to where we are.
We know that the biggest factors in determining the cost of
living are wage rates and housing costs. The limits of devolution
mean that the Scottish Government have no real say in private
sector incomes, but for many in the public sector—nurses,
midwives, teachers, junior doctors—pay awards have been
sufficient to avoid protracted industrial and strike action. It
is not as much as we would wish to pay, but better than elsewhere
and certainly appreciated, which brings us to the major factor in
the cost of living crisis: rent prices.
Different legislatures in the UK have taken different approaches
to dealing with rent prices. In Scotland there were recent
changes to the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act
2022, which took effect from 1 April. With the exception of some
defined limited circumstances, those changes have included a cap
on most private landlords’ mid-tenancy rent increases at 3%. The
enforcement of evictions continues to be paused across all
sectors for up to six months and increased damages for unlawful
evictions of up to 36 months of rent will continue to apply.
Those measures will be in force until 30 September, provided they
remain necessary, but there is also the option to extend for
another six-month period if required. As previously announced, a
social sector rent freeze has been replaced with agreements from
landlords to keep any rent increase for 2023-24 well below
inflation. That voluntary approach to rent setting agreed with
the social sector will equate to an approximate average rental
increase of £5 per week. That is still a strain for many, but
more manageable than is the case elsewhere.
The legislative approach has had its detractors who suggest that
SNP policies have harmed or unfairly targeted the private rented
sector. There is, however, no credible evidence for that, leaving
the detractors’ motives open to question. For example, concerns
are expressed by some private landlord representatives about the
different approach between social and private landlords. The
Scottish Government contend that a collective approach like that
in the social sector is simply not possible in the private rented
sector. As a consequence of the policy, the 3% increase in the
average rent of a two-bedroom private rented property, which is
the most common size, is broadly comparable in monetary value
with the average planned increase in the social sector.
The Scottish Government continue to monitor the data and to
listen to landlords and tenants, in order to consider whether the
measures that are in place remain proportionate and necessary.
The recent legislation is time-limited and can only be extended
with the approval of the Scottish Parliament, and in any event it
cannot extend beyond March 2024 at the latest.
Some have suggested that investors will exit when certain
rent-controlled regimes are introduced, and some political
parties claim that this has already happened. But, again, there
is no evidence to support those claims or suggestions. On the
contrary, the chief executive of the Scottish Association of
Landlords has stated publicly that
“We do need to have rent control in Scotland. I think that’s
where we’re going to be going.”
Let me add a few other views about Scotland and its recent
decisions. Crisis Scotland told Parliament:
“We all know that the cost of living crisis is an emergency at
the moment, and for those in poverty that’s an emergency as acute
as the pandemic. And it calls for emergency measures that at
other times wouldn’t be considered. We absolutely support the
need to do something to support tenants through that crisis.”
Living Rent said that a rent freeze would have a
“massive impact, as skyrocketing rents continue to pile on top of
out of control energy bills.”
Shelter Scotland stated that short-term emergency measures in the
Programme for Government
“are great news for tenants and will stop people from losing
their homes.”
The Scottish Trades Union Congress said that
“the Scottish Government is to be commended for freezing
rents…when used, the powers of our Parliament can bring positive
change.”
It is on the use of the powers of the Scottish Parliament that I
will now dwell, because Scotland has delivered 10.8 social rented
homes per 10,000 population compared with just 1.2 per 10,000
population in England—nine times as many. Spend on affordable
housing in Scotland remains the highest in the UK. Since the
Scottish National party came into office in 2007, that has
produced 14 homes per 10,000 population compared with 9.7 per
10,000 population in England. The Scottish Government’s per
capita spending on affordable housing is more than three times
higher than that of the UK Government. And in their published
2022-23 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government pledged
to deliver 110,000 homes ahead of 2032, of which at least 70%
will be available for social rent and 10% will be in our remote
rural and island communities.
The Scottish Government have also committed a five-year
investment of £3.5 billion to Scotland’s internationally
recognised Affordable Housing Supply Programme, which this year’s
£752 million affordable housing budget feeds into, despite a 3.4%
real-terms cut in capital funding from the UK Government.
The first-time buyer relief, which raises the nil rate band to
£175,000, means that the majority of Scotland’s first-time buyers
pay no land and building transaction tax, which replaced stamp
duty, and all other buyers benefit from a tax reduction of
£600.
All that activity can be compared with the work of the Department
for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which recently handed
back £2 billion in funding, including £1.2 billion that was
unused from the Help to Buy scheme.
I ask everyone here to ponder on the past achievements and future
plans for Scottish housing, and consider whether some of them
might also be applicable in some other parts of the UK. There
have been several well-documented attempts in recent times to
dilute the dissolution settlement and reduce the decision-making
powers of the Scottish Government.
The hon. Gentleman is making a very powerful contribution to the
debate and the comments with regard to Wales and Scotland show
the progressive, more radical policies there. Does he agree that
if the devolved nations received fair, needs-based funding
settlements from the UK Government, we could go much with those
radical socialist policies?
I absolutely agree with the hon. Member.
In closing, on the cost of living in the private rented sector,
the UK Government might do well to follow the policy lead of
Scotland and Wales, and I urge the Minister to respond positively
to the suggestions that have been made today.
3.34pm
(Greenwich and Woolwich)
(Lab)
As ever, Dr Huq, it is a pleasure to serve with you in the
Chair.
I start by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Stretford
and Urmston () on securing this
incredibly important debate and on his powerful opening remarks.
He has served in this place only for a relatively short time, but
he has already made a considerable impact. His commitment to
advocating for all those at the sharp end of the acute housing
crisis has helped and will continue to help to ensure that it
remains a prominent consideration for the House.
I also thank all those other hon. Members who have participated
in this afternoon’s debate. I particularly commend the compelling
contributions of my hon. Friends the Members for Barnsley East
(), for Pontypridd (), for Birmingham,
Erdington (Mrs Hamilton), and for Cynon Valley ()—I hope that I pronounced that
last constituency correctly.
I also want to take the opportunity at the outset to express the
Opposition’s thanks to all those organisations that have done so
much to keep the issue of renters’ reform on the political
agenda, particularly the 20 organisations that form the Renters’
Reform Coalition.
The cost of living crisis remains the most pressing issue facing
households across the country. Against the backdrop of static
inflation and rising core inflation, prices in some areas are
easing, but remain high by historical standards. Pay is now
rising, despite a cooling labour market, but continues to fall in
real terms. Direct cost of living support for households is being
scaled back, and the Government have overseen one of the biggest
tax rises in a generation. As a result, families are continuing
to feel the squeeze, and many are cutting back on essentials,
withdrawing savings and racking up debts.
All the evidence suggests that private renters are particularly
hard hit. Data released by the Office for National Statistics
only on Friday, made clear that renters are nearly five times as
likely to be financially vulnerable compared with mortgage
holders or outright homeowners. According to that analysis, as
many as four in 10 renters are finding it difficult to pay their
rent. Renters are more likely than mortgage holders to cut
spending on groceries and other essentials, to run out of food,
and to be behind on energy payments.
The pressure on private renters reflects, at least in part, the
sharp increase in rents over the recent period, owing to the
mortgage crisis this Conservative Government presided over, as
well as the general shortage of lettings, an issue rightly
highlighted by my hon. Friend the Member for Stretford and
Urmston in his comments relating to overall supply. According to
the ONS, private property rental prices across the country rose
5% in the 12 months to May 2023, the biggest increase since the
national data series began in 2016, with rent rises most acute in
London.
We have heard several statistics in the debate, and other
analysis suggests that the situation could be even more dire,
with property website Rightmove suggesting that rents have risen
nationwide by 9.4% in the past year, and by an eye-watering 14%
in Greater London. The combination of all those pressures means
that the situation for many renters is nothing short of dire.
According to Shelter, almost 2.5 million are either behind or
constantly struggling to pay their rent, an increase of 45% since
April 2022. An analysis produced by the debt advice charity,
StepChange, suggests that private renters are twice as likely as
the general population to be in problem debt.
With renters across the country at breaking point, and many
falling into arrears and at risk of eviction, they urgently need
the long-term security and better rights and conditions they have
been promised by this Government. After so many years of waiting,
the Government finally published the Renters (Reform) Bill on 17
May. Yet, two months on, the Bill has not had its Second Reading
and will not have it before the summer recess. That means, as my
hon. Friend the Member for Pontypridd mentioned, we will not get
a chance to consider it before September.
The Government’s justification for the delay, as suggested by the
Secretary of State at departmental questions last week, is that a
“fit-for-purpose impact assessment” was required to be available
before progressing the legislation. No one disputes the need for
a fit-for-purpose impact assessment to accompany the Bill, as we
subject it to detailed scrutiny. We welcome the fact that the
regulatory policy committee declared it green rated as of 3 July.
However, it is frankly laughable for a Government that published
the impact assessment for the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill
the day before Third Reading to suggest the absence of a
fit-for-purpose one is the sole reason that Second Reading of the
Renters (Reform) Bill was delayed.
Whatever the reason for the delay, with a green-rated impact
assessment now available, there is no reason whatsoever that we
cannot begin to progress this long overdue and desperately needed
piece of legislation. Will the Minister confirm to the House, and
all those renters following our proceedings today, that the
Renters (Reform) Bill will finally have Second Reading in the
weeks immediately following the House’s return after the summer
recess? Can she also reaffirm the commitment she made in response
to a question from journalist Vicky Spratt at the Renters’ Reform
rally on 21 March, to the effect that the Government will ensure
that the abolition of section 21, and presumably therefore the
passage of the Bill in its entirety, will be completed this
autumn?
As the Minister will know, the Opposition were supportive of the
proposals published in the “A fairer private rented sector” White
Paper last year, on the basis that they provide a solid
foundation for overhauling the private rental market, and we
welcome much of what is in the Bill. However, we do have some
concerns. We were troubled, for example, that the proposed
legally binding decent homes standard for the private rented
sector, and the ban on landlords refusing to rent to those in
receipt of benefits or with children, commonly known as “no DSS”
practices, are not in the Bill.
The explanatory notes accompanying the Bill state:
“The Government is carefully considering how to implement these
policies and intends to bring forward legislation at the earliest
opportunity within this Parliament.”
The Minister confirmed to the Levelling Up, Housing and
Communities Committee last Monday that separate legislation was
not required, but that the Government intended to introduce both
measures, along with stronger enforcement powers for councils,
through the Renters (Reform) Bill. Can she confirm today that
that is indeed the case? Will she provide the House with an
assurance that the changes will be considered and scrutinised in
Committee, rather than tabled as detailed amendments just prior
to Report, thereby allowing for only limited scrutiny, as her
Department has done with other pieces of recent legislation?
Lastly, the Minister will know that the Opposition regret the
fact that important elements of the White Paper are missing from
the Bill as published, including powers to limit the amount of
advance rent that landlords can ask for and measures to expand
rent repayment orders to cover repayment for non-decent homes.
Can she tell us whether the Government are open in principle to
amending the Bill to include those measures and to address its
other well-known and well-understood deficiencies and loopholes,
not least the inadequate means of redress provided for
challenging extortionate within-tenancy rent hikes, or is it the
Government’s intention to resist such attempts to strengthen this
important piece of legislation?
Private renters have waited long enough to secure a fair deal.
The case for transforming how the rental sector is regulated, and
for finally levelling the playing field between tenant and
landlord, is indisputable. The case for reform existed before the
cost of living crisis, which has now made it an urgent
imperative. The Government must act, and must act boldly. I look
forward to listening carefully to the Minister’s response.
3.41pm
The Minister of State, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and
Communities ()
It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq,
and to respond to the debate on behalf of the Government. As is
traditional, I thank the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston
() for securing the debate on
this important issue, which matters to all of us, including those
of us who serve in the Government. He spoke passionately on
behalf of his constituents, as did the other Members who have
spoken, and I will come on to their contributions before I
conclude my remarks.
The hon. Gentleman’s concerns reflect my determination to make
sure that the Government deliver a strong, functioning private
rented sector. As has been reflected during the course of the
debate, private rented accommodation is the second largest
housing sector in England, providing homes for 4.6 million
households and an estimated 11 million tenants. It plays a vital
role in supporting people to study away from home, explore new
locations or move to find work, which is why we are ensuring that
tenants have the security they need and enjoy a positive
experience of renting a home.
As has been alluded to, the Government recently introduced the
Renters (Reform) Bill to Parliament. The Bill will help change
the landscape of the private rented sector. It is the most
significant reform to the private rented sector for a generation,
and it will deliver on the Government’s commitment to a better
deal for renters. The Bill will make a fairer, more secure and
higher quality private rented sector, fit for the 21st century.
It will end section 21 “no fault” evictions and move to periodic
tenancies, allowing landlords and tenants to end tenancies when
they need to. This means that tenants can rent decent, secure
homes and put down roots in their communities, while being
empowered to challenge poor practice without worrying about
retaliatory eviction, or they can leave if the landlord fails to
meet their basic responsibilities.
However, we know that the overwhelming majority of landlords
provide a good service, and we recognise that good landlords play
a vital role in providing decent homes for millions of people
across the country. That is why we will introduce comprehensive,
fair and efficient grounds to ensure that landlords have
confidence that they can regain possession of their property when
it is reasonable to do so. We also want to simplify the system
for both tenants and landlords, which is why all rent increases
will take place via one mechanism. We will allow rent increases
once per year in periodic tenancies and increase the notice that
landlords must give to two months, giving tenants more time to
plan and to seek advice. That will create a fairer system that
allows both parties to negotiate rents effectively, while
protecting security of tenure. I want to be clear: this
Government do not support rent controls. Some Members asked me to
set out our position on that. We recognise, however, that most
people want to buy their own home one day. We are therefore
firmly committed to helping generation rent to become generation
buy.
We are working towards delivering on our commitment of 300,000
homes a year. Despite all the doom and gloom that may be
reported, we are making strong progress. There is always more to
do, but it is important to recognise that annual housing supply
is up 10% compared with the previous year, with more than 232,000
net additional homes delivered in 2021-22. That is the third
highest yearly rate for the past 30 years. We have also announced
£10 billion of investment in housing supply since the start of
the Parliament, and the Government are on track to deliver
thousands of affordable homes to rent and buy across the country
through our £11.5 billion affordable homes programme. A large
number of those are for social rent.
I want to address the—if I may put it this way—nonsense stated by
a couple of contributors to this debate, who said that money has
been handed back to the Treasury. That is simply not the case.
The money referred to was re-profiled, which is a normal part of
Government accounting —[Interruption.] Opposition Members might
want to listen and find out how Government funding and finance
work. That money will be recycled and refocused into the 2016 to
2023 affordable homes programme. I hope that we will hear no more
of that kind of comment.
A healthy housing market thrives on having a range of tenures.
That is why we have launched the £1.5 billion levelling-up home
building fund, which provides loans and takes out equity in house
builders that would otherwise struggle to access finance. The
Government have made a range of interventions to support the
sector over the past decade. The construction of new Build to
Rent homes will play an important part in helping to ease demand
pressures in the private rented sector and is already providing
thousands of much-needed new quality homes.
We know that right now meeting immediate housing costs is a huge
struggle for some people, and that a higher proportion of income
is being spent on rent by those on lower incomes in particular.
In April 2020, therefore, we raised local housing allowance
rates—a significant investment of almost £1 billion—and that
increase has been maintained since then. Where tenants are unable
to meet their housing costs and need further support,
discretionary housing payments are available from local councils.
Since 2011, the Government have provided almost £1.6 billion in
discretionary housing payment funding to local authorities. For
those who need additional support, the Government are providing
another £1 billion of funding—including any Barnett impact, as
colleagues from the devolved nations have spoken today—to extend
the household support fund in England into the next financial
year, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion.
Will the Minister give way?
I will not give way, if the hon. Lady does not mind, because I
have a lot to get on the record.
Cost of living pressures go beyond housing costs, and that is why
we have taken decisive action to support households, totalling
£94 billion or £3,300 per household on average, across 2022-23
and 2023-24. We uprated benefits and state pension by 10.1% in
April. For 2023-24, the Government are providing additional
means-tested cost of living payments of up to £900. We also
provided significant support for households with their energy
bills, covering about half of a typical household energy bill
this past winter. I utterly reject comments to suggest that the
Government are not interested in helping people on low incomes. I
have set out how we are doing just that with billions of pounds
of taxpayers’ money.
I will touch on the Members who have spoken. I thank the hon.
Members for Pontypridd (), for Cynon Valley
(), for Barnsley East (), for Birmingham,
Erdington (Mrs Hamilton) and for Leicester East (), the Front Benchers of the
SNP and the official Opposition, the hon. Members for Glasgow
South West () and for Greenwich and
Woolwich (), and my hon. Friend the
Member for Christchurch ( ).
Will the Minister give way?
I am about to refer to my hon. Friend’s comments, if he will
allow me, so he can come back to me after that. He asked about
the RPC and the impact assessment. I agree with him that this is
about supply, and I assure him that the number of PRS properties
increased by 11,000 in 2022 compared with the previous year. The
data from UK Finance shows that the number of buy-to-let
landlords reached a record high at the end of last year. There is
no evidence that private rented landlords are leaving the market.
Our Bill is fair to decent landlords, and the RPC has estimated
the net cost to landlords to be just £10 per property. The
committee has given the Bill a green rating, and I do not think
£10 per property is a significant sum that is going to force
landlords to leave the market.
rose—
If my hon. Friend wants to challenge me further, I will allow
him.
I want to ask the Minister about her aspiration to move from
generation rent to generation buy. When does she expect the
Government to deliver the voluntary right to buy for housing
association tenants, which was first promised in 2015?
I refer my hon. Friend to my earlier remarks, which set out that
we are building record numbers of houses both to buy and for
rent. We will make further announcements on that point in due
course.
I gently remind the other Members who have spoken that all of
them, I think, represent areas that have Labour-run councils, or
else represent areas in the devolved nations. Their own councils
have considerable powers, funding and tools, especially in
enforcement, to tackle a lot of the issues that have been raised
in their casework.
I was struck by the complaint made by the hon. Member for
Birmingham, Erdington about the way her own city council, which
is run by the Labour party, is allowing HMOs to be delivered. I
suggest that she takes that up with her own Labour-run
council—likewise for the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston,
whose constituency is of course part of the Greater Manchester
Combined Authority, which is run by Labour Mayor Andy , who has considerable powers,
influence and devolved funding from the central Government.
rose—
I briefly give way to the hon. Lady, who has been very
persistent.
Is the Minister aware that the devolved nations have been
underfunded by billions of pounds? Going back to the point that
the Minister made earlier, the local housing allowance is a
reserved matter, and it has been frozen since 2020, since which
time we have had a cost of living crisis. People are struggling.
My question, though, relates to the report by the Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities Committee, which stated:
“If the Government believes the PRS is the right place for those
on the lowest incomes, it should…make sure housing benefit…covers
benefit recipients’ housing costs.”
The Committee is still awaiting a response from the Government.
When will the Government respond?
(in the Chair)
Order. We need to allow the Minister to respond and to wind up the debate.
I am afraid that I do not agree with the premise of the hon.
Lady’s question, which is that the devolved nations have been
underfunded. Her Government in Wales is led by the Labour party,
and it is up to them to deliver housing for people who live in
Wales. I suggest that she address her comments to their door.
We recognise the struggles that renters have faced in recent
months, which is why we have taken decisive action to offer vital
support where it is desperately needed. More importantly, we are
making the most significant change to the private rented sector
in over 30 years to provide the stability and security that
renters need, as well as continuing to build new affordable homes
so that many more people can own their own home. I therefore look
forward to working with Members from across the House to achieve
that goal, which we all share. I thank all Members who have
contributed.
3.53pm
I thank all colleagues who have taken the time to contribute to
what has been an important and insightful debate into an issue
that affects all our constituents very acutely. I will not speak
to all the contributions from Opposition colleagues, but they
have all accurately reflected the plight of private renters, both
in terms of the impact of the cost of living crisis on their
living standards and ability to pay for basics such as food,
energy and rent, and in terms of the condition of the properties
that many constituents have to live in. Many constituents are
unable to afford to move and terrified to challenge their
landlords on the need for repair.
I want to spend rather longer, though, on the comments of the
hon. Member for Christchurch ( ). He is absolutely right
to state that we need additional supply in the housing market. He
seemed to suggest that I had not referenced that when I set out
the need to scrap the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to
build, build, build, to utilise the green belt, and to drive up
housing supply in a way that delivers significantly more
affordable and social homes. None the less, we agree on that
point. I stress that because it was probably the only part of his
contribution I agree with. He will appreciate that I am not in a
position to comment on many of the changes made 40 years ago in
the 1980s; sadly, I was not born until 1985. However, it is
certainly the case that the interventions made back then have
done nothing to ease the terrible situation for those at the
sharp end of private rent, who are experiencing this cost of
living crisis, often on very low incomes.
I also object to the suggestion that immigration, or indeed any
form of demand issue, is driving the housing crisis. It is simply
a fact that the biggest driver of demand for private rent is the
307,000 young people looking to move out of their parents’ homes
in 2022, which was caused by many of them staying at home for
longer during covid, as well as the impacts on their employment
during that time and so on. Although that is the biggest aspect
of demand, it is important to remember that the housing crisis is
always fundamentally about supply.
I am sure the hon. Member for Christchurch will be aware of this,
given that he has already subjected us to one history lesson. If
I point to the history of house building in this country, we have
not been building enough homes for the past near 70 years. In
some of those years we had net migration out of the country, so
to suggest that immigration is a driver of the housing crisis
does not bear any alignment with the evidence before us. It was
wholly unsurprising to hear that the hon. Gentleman stands
against the Renters (Reform) Bill—not only from his contribution
today, but from the significant delay in bringing the Bill
forward for both First and Second Reading. We know now that it is
the Tory Back Benchers who have caused significant delay to this
important legislation.
I thank the hon. Member for Glasgow South West () for his comments. I am not
going to speak to the merits of the system that has been brought
forward in Scotland, other than to note the significant
difference between the interventionist approach there and the
inertia from the Government here in bringing forward their
proposals.
Again, I thank the Opposition spokesperson, my hon. Friend the
Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (), who was absolutely
correct to highlight the ONS data showing that private renters
are five times more likely to be struggling, and that 2.5 million
of them are struggling to pay their rent. I know he understands
that, which is why he is pressing so hard for the Renters
(Reform) Bill to come forward, as he did today.
In many ways, the Minister echoed that desire to see the
legislation come forward, which leaves one wondering why there
has been such a delay. I appreciate that we have had a number of
Housing Ministers over the past few years; I can only hope that
she is still in the job on Monday. The issue with that many
changes, and with the number of Prime Ministers over the past few
years, is that this legislation has been kicked down the road
time and again. When people are in desperate need and struggling
to pay their rent, that is simply not good enough.
I was interested by what the Minister said about the £1.9 billion
not actually being clawed back, but reprofiled. I am sure that
will be of great reassurance to the many people struggling to get
on the housing ladder and to access social and affordable
property, not least because the Minister promised that the money
will be available from 2026. How wonderful!
I did not say that.
I believe that the Minister said it was from 2026 to 2030.
What I said was that the programme is from 2016 to 2023. It is
already delivering affordable housing. I will send the hon.
Gentleman a copy of my speech, and he will find it in
Hansard.
I am grateful for that and I apologise if I misheard the
Minister. However, the fundamental point is that there is still
much work to do. Yes, we need to see the Renters (Reform) Bill
come through urgently. We also desperately need to see the
support package that is being brought forward to stop mortgage
holders being evicted extended to renters. Of course, we also
need to build, build, build social and affordable homes in a way
that gets them back to the second largest form of tenure in this
country, giving the housing security that people desperately
need.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House has considered the cost of living and the private
rented sector.
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