Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the National Housing Federation’s report, Overcrowding in
England, published on 19 April; and, in particular, its finding
that one in six children lives in ‘overcrowded conditions’.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Levelling Up, Housing & Communities () (Con)
The Government are committed to reducing overcrowding by
increasing the supply of affordable housing and enabling councils
and other social landlords to make better use of their existing
homes. We are also consulting on changes to the NPPF to make
clear that local authorities should give greater importance to
social housing in planning decisions. The current legislative
framework maintains that statutory reasonable preference
requirements must ensure that social housing is prioritised for
those who need it most, including for those in overcrowded
housing.
(Lab)
I thank the Minister for that reply but does she accept that the
National Housing Federation’s research has exposed the dire
levels of the housing crisis in England? Some 2 million children
are forced to live in cramped and overcrowded conditions, with no
personal space—that is one in six children. Households from
ethnic-minority backgrounds are three times more likely to be
affected by overcrowding. There is a general recognition that the
leading cause of overcrowding in England is the chronic shortage
of social housing, as the Minister has I think acknowledged.
Funding for social rent remains at an all-time low. The lack of
any funding for regeneration has made investment in existing
homes nigh impossible. Does the Minister agree with the National
Housing Federation that a long-term, national plan is required to
drive up the number of appropriate, affordable homes across
England for families right round the country?
(Con)
Obviously the Government are concerned about overcrowded houses
around the country and the report that came out, but I can tell
noble Lords what the Government are doing. Now, as we sit here,
we have an affordable housing fund of £11.5 billion, and we are
putting more priority on using that fund for houses for social
rent. The £500 million local authority housing fund is also going
out now, to build houses in the next two years where local
authorities are under extreme pressure for social housing. As I
say, for the future, we are changing the NPPF to ensure that
social housing takes a higher priority when local planning
authorities are looking at their local plans and prioritising
houses for social rent.
(Con)
Is it not a fact that, over the last five years, there has been a
steady decline in social housing? Against that background, will
my noble friend look again at this issue and put some drive
behind new towns, new cities and new garden cities? Those
organisations have relieved a great deal of overcrowding in our
cities throughout the United Kingdom and have provided decent
housing for families to live in, for the future.
(Con)
This is a subject that my noble friend brings up quite often. As
I have said, we will continue to look at every solution to the
problem of more houses in this country.
(LD)
My Lords, for me, the key issue is the lack of suitable homes for
people to upsize to at a rent that they can afford. Will the
Government please reconsider unfreezing the local housing
allowance to help some families, especially those in the private
sector, to upsize and get out of those conditions?
(Con)
We have no plans to do so at the moment but I will keep the noble
Baroness and the House aware of any that we might have in the
future.
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
My Lords, I am grateful to the National Housing Federation for
its excellent report highlighting this crucial issue, and to my
noble friend Lady Warwick for her tireless work on housing. The
level of overcrowding highlighted by the NHF is one of the
strongest indicators of the woeful state of housing in this
country and the shameful record of this Government, with only
6,000 social homes built last year and 2 million families on
waiting lists. The recent decision to abandon housing targets has
exacerbated the housing crisis and will worsen the issue of
overcrowded properties. Given that planning applications in
England are now at a record low, will the Minister bring forward
amendments to the levelling-up Bill to put the targets back into
law?
(Con)
I thank the noble Baroness. We have had this debate on a number
of occasions throughout the LUR Bill, and I am sure we will have
this discussion again. We are clear that we are looking at the
NPPF into the future, but it is up to local planning authorities
to decide on the types of housing that they are going to put into
their local plans and how many. We feel that, with the new
changes in the LURB, local plans will be easier to produce and
there will be more of them, delivering more housing for this
country.
(Con)
My Lords, the research to which my noble friend referred showed
that the families most likely to suffer from overcrowding are
families already in the social housing sector, but they cannot
move because there are no larger homes to move to and they cannot
afford to rent. In the medium term, should the social housing
sector not be building more, larger houses? In the short term,
should housing associations and local authorities consider
leasing larger homes from the private sector in order to mitigate
the problems to which my noble friend referred?
(Con)
My noble friend is absolutely right. If you have anything to do
with local housing, you will realise that there seem to be many
more one-bedroom and two-bedroom properties than there are family
homes. We recognise the challenge faced by the sector, and that
is why we encourage local authorities to continue to consider
innovative ways in which they can best use their stock. For
example, supporting underoccupiers to transfer to other, smaller
properties is one way that they can then relet family homes.
Landlords are focused on providing high-quality services to all
their tenants. Introducing a new requirement for local
authorities to lease larger homes in the open market may also be
considered a new burden, for which funding would be unlikely to
be provided.
(Lab)
My Lords, as has already been mentioned, the report firmly states
that ethnic-minority households are three times more likely to be
overcrowded than white households. Have the Government taken note
of that? What do they intend to do to specifically rectify the
problem for ethnic minorities?
(Con)
My Lords, interestingly, in December 2022, we published our
report Overcrowding in South Asian Households, to provide a
deeper understanding of the issues faced by those from South
Asian backgrounds. The study puts Bangladeshi and Pakistani
households at the centre of a piece of research, including their
perceptions of their living situations and cultural drivers. This
is the first time that overcrowding has been studied in that way,
and our findings are used to develop culturally sensitive
policies on overcrowding and housing more generally. This came
from an English Housing Survey that indicated that British
Bangladeshis and Pakistanis were particularly affected by
overcrowding.
(Con)
My Lords, I know a number of families in London who are affected
by significant overcrowding, and obviously one of the options for
them is to leave London. Will my noble friend the Minister please
talk to her colleague at the Department for Education, as there
are reports that the school-places situation in London is going
to be affected by the fact that families are now moving out of
the capital? It might cost more money to build school places
elsewhere in the country than to adopt the solution suggested by
my noble friend Lord Young, which is to rent from the private
sector three-bedroom and four-bedroom properties here in
London.
(Con)
I am aware of some of those issues, some of which came from Covid
and people moving out at that time. I do not know the answer to
the questions that my noble friend raises on the education side,
but I will ask my colleagues in the Department for Education and
will write to her.
(Lab)
My Lords, the myriad issues that arise on housing provision are
very serious indeed. The solution might be expensive but it is
not complicated —virtually every questioner today has pointed to
the lack of supply of social housing. The stats are very simple:
the availability of social housing in the last two or three
decades has pretty well halved, while much more expensive,
private accommodation has pretty well doubled. Can the Government
just focus on this one, simply stated issue, as we desperately
need a huge expansion of the level of provision of social
housing?
(Con)
That is why, as I have already said, we are putting £11.5 billion
into the affordable housing fund, more of which is going to be
prioritised on social houses for rent. We are also looking at
changing the National Planning Policy Framework in order to
increase the importance of social housing. We are encouraging
local authorities, in drawing up their local plans, to consider
not just affordable housing but social housing for rent. We have
just put £500 million into the local authority housing fund to
help in the short term.
