Category: Housing

Thangam Debbonaire – 2020 Comments on Affordable Housing

Below is the text of the comments made by Thangam Debbonaire, the Shadow Housing Secretary, on 30 June 2020.

The Westferry scandal shows that for all their fancy language, the Tories are simply prioritising the demands of housing developers at the expense of people who need affordable homes.

The arrogance of Robert “three-homes” Jenrick proposing a roll-out of ill-adapted rabbit hutches is staggering – permitted development has been shown to be a failure and this is just another example of the Tories doing favours for their property developer mates. Meanwhile, our climate change targets are urgent, and there are millions of existing homes which need insulation and energy efficiency.

Instead of thinking about housing developers’ business interests, the government should be focusing on the millions of people who see home ownership as an impossible dream, or the many key workers who have been stuck for years on council housing waiting lists and invest in high-quality, truly affordable homes which are well insulated and energy efficient and help to meet our zero-carbon emissions targets.

June 30, 2020
Thangam Debbonaire – 2020 Comments on the Prime Minister’s Planning Reforms

Below is the text of the comments made by Thangam Debbonaire, the Shadow Housing Secretary, on 30 June 2020.

A real terms cut in funding for affordable housing shows where the Tories’ priorities really lie: slashing planning regulations for their wealthy developer backers, not building good quality, environmentally sustainable and truly affordable housing for workers.

It’s no wonder that Government wants to scrap planning regulations: the evidence from the Robert Jenrick cash-for-favours scandal shows us how desperate they are to help billionaire donors abuse the planning system and ride rough-shod over local people.

Yet again the Conservatives are saying one thing and doing another while trying to deflect from their abysmal record on housebuilding after being in power for ten years.

June 30, 2020
Thangam Debbonaire – 2020 Comments on Grenfell and Cladding

Below is the text of the comments made by Thangam Debbonaire, the Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, on 13 June 2020.

Three years on from the Grenfell tragedy, it is a national disgrace that so many people are still living in the shadow of deadly flammable cladding.

Ministers have missed their own deadline for cladding removal and must now take the enforcement action they promised to make buildings safe.

Grenfell-style cladding is just the tip of an iceberg. At the current pace it could take decades to end the cladding scandal. This vital work must speed up. It is a matter of life and death.

June 14, 2020
Christopher Pincher – 2020 Statement on the Planning Process

Below is the text of the statement made by Christopher Pincher, the Minister for Housing, in the House of Commons on 11 June 2020.

The Government are committed to maintaining public confidence in the probity of the planning process at all levels, including the Secretary of State’s role in deciding called-in planning applications and recovered appeals. Rightly, Parliament has, through the planning Acts, delegated to local planning authorities the powers to determine things at their level. However, Parliament has also created provisions whereby a small proportion of cases are determined by central Government.

The written ministerial statement of June 2008 sets out clear criteria for the use of the powers. For example, some decisions are recovered because of the quantum of housing they involve and thus their potential effect on the Government’s objectives for sustainable communities; others are recovered because of non-determination by the local authority. The involvement of Ministers in the planning system is a very long-established process that is clearly guided by both the published ministerial code and the guidance published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on planning propriety, which focuses on the duty on Ministers to behave fairly and to approach matters before them with an open mind.

The vast majority of planning decisions are determined at a local level by local planning authorities. However, as I have said, the planning system provides for decisions to be sent to Ministers for determination, including on the grounds that they involve developments of major importance. In fact, Ministers were involved in 26 planning decisions out of a total of 447,000 planning cases last year. The small number of cases that are referred to planning Ministers for determination are often among the most controversial in the planning system—for example, the 500 dwellings in the Oxford green belt that were recently allowed, and the 500 dwellings in the York green belt that were refused.

Given the nature of the cases before them, it is not uncommon for Ministers to determine against the planning inspector’s recommendation, as has happened in around 20% of cases in recent years. In conclusion, I stress that each planning decision is taken fairly and on its own merits.

June 12, 2020
Thangam Debbonaire – 2020 Letter on Homelessness

Below is the text of the letter written by Thangam Debbonaire to Robert Jenrick on 8 June 2020.

Dear Robert,

Re: the end of the ban on evictions proceedings and the end of ‘Everybody In’

As you know, Labour called for a six-month ban on evictions during the Coronavirus crisis and we welcomed your introduction of a three-month ban as a good start to protect people from becoming homeless as a result of sudden loss of income. I am also pleased that you have now decided to extend the ban for a further two months.

We also welcomed your call of ‘Everybody In’ to help protect rough sleepers from being left in really dangerous situations during the crisis.

We recently called on you to ensure that there is a proper plan for the end of this scheme and we want to work with you and our colleagues in Local Authorities and homelessness organisations to ensure that your welcome announcement of planning 6,000 new homes to help end rough sleeping and make sure people do not end up back on the streets is a reality.

I’m writing to you today to press you on specific points which remain unaddressed as we come towards the end of June which I fear will create a further increase in homelessness and rough sleeping if they are not dealt with urgently.

Preventing evictions by protecting income

You will know that Labour called for the government to put in place various improvements to social security to help ensure that most private tenants can pay their rent in these difficult times. This includes:

i. Converting Universal Credit advances into grants instead of loans, ending the five-week wait;
ii. Removing the £16,000 savings limit which disqualifies individuals from accessing Universal Credit;
iii. Scrapping the benefit cap;
iv. Abolishing the two-child limit in Universal Credit and tax credits; and
v. Uprating legacy benefits to match the increase in Universal Credit, providing an immediate increase in Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment Support Allowance.
vi. Raising the Local Housing Allowance to the 50th percentile point of commercial residential rents.

Unfortunately, your colleagues in the Department of Work and Pensions have not yet taken these up. As a result, Shelter and Citizen’s Advice both confirm that there is a growing number of people living in the private rented sector who are struggling to pay rent.

1. Will you now urgently consider every possible route to ensure people in rented accommodation have sufficient income to prevent them from falling into arrears during this crisis?

The government announced in the Queen’s Speech that there would be a Renters’ Rights Bill in this Parliament which would abolish Section 21 of the Housing Act 1985. We welcome this. We asked you to bring forward at least that part of the proposed legislation urgently during the Covid crisis as it would help protect tenants from evictions during a public health crisis. We also asked you to bring forward emergency legislation to remove for the life of the crisis some of the grounds for eviction in Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 so that there would be no mandatory eviction of tenants who fell into two months of arrears as that Act provides.

You recently extended the temporary option for owner-occupiers to defer mortgage payments if they need to because of a sudden drop of income due to the Covid crisis. This is a welcome move. The social security system must be sufficiently generous to prevent private renters accumulating large arrears, but renters deserve parity with owner-occupiers with an equivalent facility to be able to defer residual arrears accrued as a result of the crisis and repay over the life of the tenancy or at least two years, with courts able to confirm a repayment agreement between landlord and tenant.

We have draft legislation ready to achieve these which I have attached to this letter. We would work with you closely to achieve the aim we are sure you want to achieve, which is to prevent the undoing of all the good work tackling rough sleepers by adding to their numbers through a preventable increase in evictions in July and following months.

2. Will you now work with us to urgently bring forward such legislation, in order to prevent a spike in evictions as a result of tenants getting into arrears due to sudden drops in income during the crisis?

Everybody In

We welcomed your acknowledgement that the excellent work done by central and local government and by homelessness and housing charities working with the private sector to bring rough sleepers into accommodation during the crisis provides a real chance to bring forward the ambition of ending rough sleeping for good. Whilst your appointment of Dame Louise Casey and your commitment to increasing funding is welcome we are concerned that local authorities are already facing significant funding gaps between what was promised by central government and what the accommodation has already cost and that after ten years of cuts to local authority budgets there is insufficient support available to help people to sustain living in permanent accommodation.

3. Will you work with Her Majesty’s Opposition, with local authorities, the Local Government Association, Housing Associations, specialist mental health and addiction service providers and others to ensure that there is a full and proper assessment of the resources needed for achieving the ambition we all share which is to prevent people from ending up back on the streets?

4. Will you also identify how many people have become homeless, including street homeless, since the start of the crisis, and work with the stakeholders to ensure that these people are also helped into secure long-term accommodation and support?

Parliamentary scrutiny and cross-party working

As the government has now ended the hybrid parliament and states that there is a need for this to happen in order to ensure greater Parliamentary scrutiny of government and for government to be able to pursue its legislative agenda, it would be a good idea for the government to allow time in the House for debate and discussion about the coming evictions crisis. This could be in the form of a debate in government time, or if the government would allow other opportunities such as back bench debates, Opposition Day or Westminster Hall debates.

5. Will you ensure there is sufficient time to debate the current crisis in housing which has come about as a result of the Covid crisis?

Her Majesty’s Opposition shares your ambition to end rough sleeping for good and we are sure you share our view that adding unnecessarily to the totals of homeless people should be avoided at all costs. We want to work with you to achieve this. It’s in all our interests, for public health as well as for the good of the country and the individuals concerned, that we do so. I hope you will take us up on this offer.

Yours

Thangam Debbonaire

June 8, 2020
Louise Casey – 2020 Statement on Rough Sleeping

Below is the text of the statement made by Louise Casey, the Prime Minister’s adviser on rough sleeping, on 31 May 2020.

Firstly can I add my own condolences to the families and friends of all those who have so sadly passed away, due to COVID-19.

At the outset of this awful crisis it became clear that what we needed to do, was do all we can to make sure we were protecting some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

And we must continue to do so, the pandemic is not over.

For homeless people, the task was to bring as many people in off the streets and out of communal shelters.

The goal was to protect rough sleepers from the virus, give them the chance to self-isolate, and, ultimately therefore, to do the best we can to save their lives.

There was an absolutely extraordinary response, across the public sector, charities and businesses in response to my call to get ‘everyone in’.

Those efforts have resulted in close to 15,000 people across England now being helped.

I’d like to take this opportunity, alongside the Secretary of State, to thank everyone involved – it was an extraordinary and unusual endeavour. From the dedicated outreach workers, the hard-working council staff to hotels that have opened their doors, and faith and community groups who provided friendship and food.

It has been a heartening example of what we can do when we need to do it and the best of Britain in this time of crisis.

And, by bringing almost everyone in, we now have an another extraordinary and unusual endeavour ahead, to try and change their lives for good beyond the immediate response to COVID-19.

I stand ready to work with all partners and esteemed colleagues in Wales, in Scotland and in Northern Ireland.

So, I’m really pleased the government is investing in these 6,000 new homes along with the extra support and money for the costs of their support. Meaning that we can help the most vulnerable rough sleepers, in the long term.

This is a really good start. I am grateful to the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister for their support. But none of us should underestimate the challenge ahead in order to keep everyone in.

There is much more that we need to do, but for now, I’d just like to thank – those in local government, the health service, the civil servants and the countless charities and community groups, who have helped protect this, one of our most vulnerable groups in our society, during this pandemic.

And those, such as the Prince’s Trust, Business in the Community, Comic Relief, the Anglican and Catholic churches who have pledged wider support.

So, now that so many are inside, I hope that we can keep it that way. What has been done here, is a small but incredible silver lining – in the dark cloud, that is COVID-19.

Thank you.

May 31, 2020
Thangam Debbonaire – 2020 Speech on the Housing Market

Below is the text of the speech made by Thangam Debbonaire, the Labour MP for Bristol West, in the House of Commons on 13 May 2020.

Thank you Mr Speaker, and I thank the Secretary of State for an advance copy of his statement.

The Government said that they would do “whatever it takes” to get the country through the covid crisis and protect the most vulnerable. The Opposition want the Government to succeed. Lives, livelihoods and homes are on the line. In a spirit of constructive co-operation, we have scrutinised plans carefully and offered suggestions and challenges when appropriate, to try to help to bring down infections and the numbers of people who are infected or who are tragically dying, and to help people manage financially. Sometimes the Government have heeded our calls, sometimes not. I would like them to consider these.

Today’s announcement provides welcome news for some—and of course we all want new homes to be built —but it leaves more unanswered housing questions, which urgently need Government attention to keep people safe at work and at home, as we do not have community testing, a cure or a vaccine and there are still problems with personal protective equipment. What protection will there be for people who rent, if a landlord or an estate agent wants to show a prospective buyer or new tenant around? What will the Government do to help those trapped by the cladding and leasehold scandals at this time? What discussions have the Government had with the trade unions? There was no mention of that in the statement. What advice do the Government have for anyone who feels that their workplace or construction site is not safe?

This crisis has taught us that if anyone is struggling, we are all affected. The announcement focused on those who want to move home, but it ignored those who are at risk of being forced to do so. The Secretary of State talked about show homes, but not about people with no home. We have shown that when we work together we can virtually eliminate street homelessness in days. There must be no going back, but people in emergency accommodation face that. Will the Government work with councils and homelessness organisations on the issue of how to provide and pay for a “housing first” approach, so that we can end street homelessness for good this year?

The Secretary of State said that he knew that homes were sanctuaries, but there is no plan for what happens when the temporary ban on evictions ends. We need to prevent people from falling into arrears, so will the Government heed Labour’s calls to fill gaps in the financial support schemes? Will he guarantee that the local housing allowance will stay at 30% of market rent? Will he consider raising it further until the crisis eases?

People who are struggling with their rent are worried about what will happen when the ban lifts. The Government say that they are

“working with the Master of the Rolls to widen the existing ‘pre-action protocol’ on possession proceedings for Social Landlords, to include private renters and to strengthen its remit”.

That is not enough, so will the Secretary of State consider Labour’s proposal to halt section 8 evictions on the grounds of arrears caused by the lockdown?

In March, Ministers said that they would provide

“whatever funding is needed for councils to get through this and come out the other side”.

That pledge has been repeated by the Secretary of State. This week, however, he told the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee that councils should not

“labour under a false impression”

that all costs would be reimbursed. Which is it? Will the Secretary of State honour his original commitment to councils?

The Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Thornbury and Yate (Luke Hall), appeared to require local authorities to provide accommodation for people with no recourse to public funds but without funding, leading to confusion and people being left out. Will the Secretary of State ensure that there is specific funding for housing people with no recourse to public funds?

Councils cannot borrow for revenue spending or run deficits. If they cannot balance the books they have to stop spending. They are currently £10 billion short—a fifth of council spending. They could close every library, leisure centre and children’s centre, turn off all the streetlights, and lock the gates to parks, and they would still be billions of pounds short. They would have to make cuts to social care and public health at this time. Will the Secretary of State ensure that councils are fully recompensed for housing and other costs in this crisis?

Finally, during the crisis we have all become aware of people in overcrowded, unsafe homes, who are unable to self-isolate and worried about the rent. We know how bad it is for mental and physical health when families have no outside space. The Secretary of State says that he wants “more homes, safer homes, and higher quality, more beautiful homes”, but he does not say how he will ensure that they are higher quality, or safe, or beautiful. He could have decided to invest in high-quality, safe, beautiful, socially owned, zero-carbon, truly affordable housing. That would capture the national spirit and turn it into building our future.

Instead, the Government have focused on private house sales and even today asked councils to allow developers to defer section 106, the community infrastructure levy, which is likely to reduce the numbers of new social and affordable homes. Will the Secretary of State please work with the Treasury, housing associations, local authorities and the building industry to invest in high-quality, truly affordable social housing?

Our broken housing system has been brutally exposed. Key workers we applaud each week live in poor housing. They have been left behind too long. We must not go back to business as usual. We must solve the housing crisis for all our heroes and for our country.

May 21, 2020
Robert Jenrick – 2020 Statement on the Housing Market

Below is the text of the statement made by Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, in the House of Commons on 13 May 2020.

Moving home can be a life-changing moment for many among us. For young families spreading their wings after a new arrival, for young people leaving their parents’ home for the first time, or for working people changing towns or cities to start a new job, moving home means planting your roots; laying your foundations. A home is more than four walls and a roof—it is a sanctuary, a form of protection, and a link to your community.

We know that people’s homes are at the heart of their own personal stories, and throughout the course of this emergency, we have, by necessity, put many of those stories on hold, to protect our communities and to save lives. When the essential “Stay at home” message was announced, we changed the rules so that people could move home only if they thought it was “reasonably necessary”. For many people, this has put life on hold, with this most relevant and essential industry in a state of suspended animation. Over 450,000 sales have been stuck in the system, unable to be progressed—not to mention the substantial number of rentals that have not gone ahead. Every month, 300,000 tenancies come up for renewal, a proportion of which result in people moving home. The pressure to move has, for some, become acute, with profound legal, financial and health implications.

We made that decision in order to keep the country safe, but as we move into the next phase of our covid response and embark on our path to reopen, restart and renew the economy, we recognise the need to let people get back to living their lives. That is why today I am announcing a comprehensive, clear, and coherent plan to reopen the housing market and to restart the construction industry. With immediate effect, we are lifting the temporary freeze on home-moving, meaning that, as long as they are not shielding or self-isolating, anyone can move, any time and for any reason.

The industry is broad, and has many moving parts, so we want to be clear: each of the building blocks of the buying and selling process are now back in business, as long as it can be done safely. Here, then, is our plan for the reopening, restarting, and renewing of the housing market and the construction industry: estate agent offices can now reopen, removal companies can get moving again, surveyors, conveyancers and valuers can go back to work, and show homes on sites can reopen.

It is crucial that these changes happen safely and that we continue to tread with caution, to control the virus and to protect the public. This means that as these businesses reopen they will need to adapt their practices—for instance, with virtual viewings where possible and cleaning thoroughly after viewings and when moving. I have published detailed guidance, informed by public health advice, to explain how this can be achieved, building on the existing safer working guidance, with all parties observing hygiene measures and social distancing guidelines.

For each of the other elements that make up the wider construction industry—a sector that employs more than 2 million people—the same applies. If people are self-isolating or have coronavirus, they should of course not be moving or going back to work. All parties involved in home buying and selling should prioritise agreeing amicable arrangements to change move dates for individuals in this group.

This is the most radical restarting of an industry in the first phase of our national recovery road map. It was not an easy decision to make. With few, if any, transactions, there is no visibility and no precedent with which to accurately judge the state of the housing market, but I do know that in every economic recovery in modern British history the housing market has been key, so let me be clear to all who work in the sector, have started a business in it, have invested in it, or rely upon it: I am doing everything I can to help the industry bounce back.

A healthy housing market means more than buying and selling houses; it requires building them too, but covid-19 has had a profound impact on housebuilding, with activity on sites down by around 90% since this time last year. I am delighted to see so many construction companies back at work already, and I am pleased to be supporting their efforts by today announcing the launch of a safe working charter with the Home Builders Federation. Those working on site should feel confident that their essential jobs are also safe jobs.

I am taking further steps to support safe housebuilding by allowing more flexible working hours on construction sites, where appropriate and with local checks and balances. I am allowing sites to apply to extend their working hours, again with immediate effect. Varied start and finish times will make it easier for sites to observe social distancing, will take pressure off public transport, particularly in our core cities, and will keep Britain building.

The planning system, too, must be able to operate safely and efficiently during this time, which means, as with many other sectors, making more use of digital technology. I want the Planning Inspectorate to be at the forefront of this work—it is good to see the inspectorate now undertaking its first virtual hearings. I am asking it to make all hearings virtual within weeks. We are going to get the planning system going again and bring it into the digital age at the same time.

As we look to the future, we must remember that the prospects of Britain’s housing market is key to our economy: when this sector succeeds, we all succeed. This is what shapes our vision for the housing market: more homes, safer homes, homes of higher quality, more beautiful homes, homes of all types and tenures, for all people, rooted in and at the heart of their communities. Today, we reopen, restart and we renew the housing market and the construction industry to protect lives, save jobs and refresh and renew our economy.

May 21, 2020
Michael Howard – 2004 Speech on Housing

Below is the text of the speech made by Michael Howard, the then Leader of the Opposition, on 27 October 2004.

There are few things more important to us than the home we live in.

People in this country want to own their home. Owning your own home gives you security, stability and a base. It gives you a real stake in society. It gives you freedom and security.

A lot of people do already own their own home. But for more and more people – particularly first time buyers – it’s becoming very difficult.

Everyone knows someone who is desperate to buy their own home – someone just starting out on a career, or a young couple that have just got married and want to start a family.

Twenty or thirty years ago, their parents would have found it difficult, but they would have managed. But for today’s young people, the difficult dream has become the impossible dream.

But it’s not just young people who have a problem. It’s easy to forget that many older people want to move home – to a home that is more suitable or to one that is nearer their family.

So we need practical policies that that will help put a home within their reach.

Some people think the answer is to build more houses. We certainly do need more homes – the level of homebuilding in this country is at its lowest for more than eighty years – and we will be publishing our detailed proposals on this shortly.

But what we emphatically do not want is to concrete over the south east with millions of homes, which are simply dumped on communities and which are unsustainable.

Labour have been all talk. They have promised action, but they have not delivered. In many ways, through stealth taxes such as stamp duty and council tax, they have made owning your own home even more difficult.

I won’t promise to solve the housing problem overnight. But we are putting forward today a series of practical policies that will make a difference, policies that will address different housing needs and tackle the problem of affordable housing.

As Caroline said, we’ve been working on our policies for many months now. We’ve talked to a huge range of people and held wide-ranging discussions. Today’s document is the fruit of a lot of hard work.

The policies in this document will help increase home ownership in this country. They will help give young people the start they need and support older people who want to move house.

At the heart of our approach is people, not buildings.

We haven’t simply asked – how can we build more homes?

We’ve asked some different questions – how we can we make homes more affordable? How can we open up the existing supply of homes? How can we give more people a greater stake in the home they live in?

In short, how can the Party that gave people the Right to Buy today give people the Right to Own?

This is what we are going to do:

First, we will extend the Right to Buy to over a million housing association tenants who don’t have that right at the moment.

Second, we will allow social housing tenants to buy the home of their choice, not just the house in which they currently live. We’re going to do that by giving tenants transferable discounts that can be used towards the cost of any suitable property on the market.

Third, we will enable tenants to steadily build-up a stake in their home through a Right to Shared Ownership.

Fourth, we will bring the property ladder back within reach of ordinary home buyers – young and old – by extending shared equity schemes.

These proposals will help bring more homes within reach of more people.

They will increase home ownership.

They will make homes more affordable.

They will help people live in the homes that are right for them.

And they will help us invest in building more social housing.

May 10, 2020