Asked by Lord Shipley To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their
target for the number of additional social homes to be built by
2022. Lord Shipley (LD) My Lords, in reminding the House that I am
a vice-president of the Local Government Association, I beg leave
to ask the...Request free trial
Asked by
-
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their target for
the number of additional social homes to be built by
2022.
-
My Lords, in reminding the House that I am a
vice-president of the Local Government Association, I beg
leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the
Order Paper.
-
My Lords, affordable housing is the Government’s
priority. That is why the Prime Minister announced a
further £2 billion of funding for affordable housing,
increasing the affordable homes programme budget to over
£9 billion to March 2021. The programme will deliver a
wide range of affordable housing, including social rent
homes. Funding for social rent will be focused in areas
with acute affordability pressure. The programme is
flexible and the precise number of homes and tenure types
will depend on the bids received. This allows providers
to have the flexibility and agility to respond to local
needs and markets, building the right homes in the right
places.
-
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply. On 9
November, the Government published figures which showed
that in 2016-17, only 5,380 homes for social rent were
completed, amounting to just 2.5% of the total number of
217,350 new homes. That figure includes new builds and
conversions. Is the Minister as disturbed as I am by
those figures, given the huge length of waiting lists for
social homes for rent, and what plans do the Government
have to free up local authorities to get building again?
-
My Lords, last year—2016-17—was the best year for
housebuilding for a decade. Having said that, I accept
there is a significant challenge in relation to social
housing. Much of that £2 billion will, as I indicated, be
committed to that, and that will begin to tackle the
problem. However, I agree with what the noble Lord is
saying. There is a challenge there, and we are hoping to
meet it—and, of course, we have a Budget tomorrow.
-
Can my noble friend tell the House what the Government
are doing to support housing associations to deliver new
affordable houses?
-
I agree with the thrust of my noble friend’s question; as
I say, there is a challenge to be met. In the last week,
I think, housing associations have been taken off the
public balance sheet—an issue which we have debated in
this House—which has taken £70 billion off the public
balance sheet and will undoubtedly help. The £2 billion
will also be of assistance, as will the fact that there
is now certainty in renting in that sector.
-
My Lords, will the Minister accept that the Government’s
commitment to raising standards in education rings hollow
when so many families with small children live in
temporary accommodation? I refer to my own experience as
chair of education in Lancashire. These children cannot
settle and have the good early years education or the
family life and security that they need to achieve the
Government’s objective, which they keep repeating, to
improve educational standards.
-
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for restating once
more that noble aim. First, I would point out to her that
we have delivered more affordable housing in the last
seven years than was delivered in the last seven years of
the previous Labour Government. However, I accept what
she says about the interrelated nature of these problems
and agree that tackling housing also helps with
education, well-being and health.
-
My Lords, does the Minister agree that the big mistake in
housing policy over the last 20 years has been our
reliance on a handful of major-volume housebuilders which
have let us down at every turn? They have let us down on
quantity, by hoarding their land; on quality, in relation
to the standards of design and production; and on the
affordable homes that they said they would build but
which they have reneged on along the way. Can we take it
from the Government that the corner is now being turned
and there will be a greater reliance on the other
suppliers of housing in this country—the housing
associations, the local authorities and the smaller
housebuilders, which have so much to offer?
-
My Lords, the noble Lord comes with unparalleled
experience in this area. I take the point about the need
for diversity of supply, particularly looking to smaller
suppliers, self-build and modern methods of construction,
which we looked at yesterday. I also accept a point
implicit in his question, which was also raised yesterday
by my noble friend —the fact that
there is land banking. We need to take account of that,
and we committed to do so in the housing White Paper.
-
My Lords, I refer the House to my relevant interests as
set out in the register—as a councillor and as a
vice-president of the Local Government Association. We
will have to wait until tomorrow to see what the
Chancellor says about housing, but does the noble Lord
not agree that, to get to their housing targets and deal
with the pressing need that we have heard about, the
public sector has to be both encouraged and allowed to
build around 100,000 homes a year for social rent rather
than any other unaffordable models?
-
My Lords, the noble Lord knows that I agree with his
general point that over successive Governments the social
rented sector has been somewhat neglected, and we are
certainly looking to make up some of the shortfall. As I
said, we have had a record year—the best for a decade—but
that does not make us complacent. There is an awfully
long way to go, but we have a great battery of policies
and, as the noble Lord rightly says, we await tomorrow’s
Budget.
-
My Lords, is the Minister aware that affordable housing
is 30% more expensive than social housing for rent? The
fact that there has been such a shortfall in the building
of social rented housing—the worst since World War
II—will impact directly on the 65,000 families who will
be homeless this Christmas. Can he give them an assurance
that developers’ loopholes will be closed tomorrow in the
Budget?
-
My Lords, I hear what the noble Baroness says. I do not
know what is in the Budget, so am unable even to slip up
and say what will be in it. She is right that social rent
is set at about 60% of market rent, whereas affordable
rent is set at 80%. Of course, there is a conundrum in
switching from one heading to another, as it means that
there will be less affordable housing if more social
housing is built. As noble Lords have rightly said, we
await tomorrow’s Budget.
|
