| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham): What is the implication of the Secretary of State's borrowing proposal for the level of interest repayments on local authority debt?
Mr. Prescott: All our proposals, particularly in respect of borrowing requirements, depend on how far we advance. The extent of the borrowing will determine the interest rate. Once we establish that, we will be able to make a judgment. That will be taken into account when we allocate the resources available for borrowing.
Mr. Jeremy Corbyn (Islington, North): What improvement does my right hon. Friend expect in inner London housing as a result of the Green Paper? Although many would welcome the recognition of the need for homes for nurses, teachers and police staff, I hope that there will also be a recognition of the need for homes for people who are on a housing waiting list and who have no possibility whatever of renting privately or buying. For them, the only future is to move out. Will my right hon. Friend recognise that there is a need for local authorities to be able to buy or build, in order to alleviate the terrible housing stress and the overcrowding in which many inner-city children are growing up in London?
Mr. Prescott: No one can doubt my hon. Friend's analysis of the difficulties of housing in London. Most of us, who come from various parts of the United Kingdom, know that to be true. There are real difficulties. However, there are still problems with empty homes, even in his constituency. Unfortunately, that is often a result of inadequate resources being allocated to maintain standards. It should be recognised that no local authority likes to have empty houses; it is income lost. I am told that even in Tunbridge Wells there has been a 50 per cent. increase in empty houses. I do not know why that should be so--perhaps it has happened since the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Mr. Norman) was elected or his constituents heard him at the Dispatch Box.
There are serious housing problems, but we are moving to help. I am sure that my hon. Friend will welcome the key worker proposal. We are providing extra resources, and the £5 billion has had its effect in the London area. The waiting list remains a problem. Although housing is still the responsibility of central Government, I am sure that when my right hon. Friend the Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Mr. Dobson) is elected as London mayor, we will get together. He will have responsibility for planning, we will have responsibility for housing, and we will see what we can do together to improve the situation in London.
Mr. Elfyn Llwyd (Meirionnydd Nant Conwy):
The Deputy Prime Minister referred to the transfer of 200,000 houses a year. The Local Government Bill contains compelling incentives for the continuation of the transfer of existing housing stock to social landlords. Is it the
Mr. Prescott:
No, local authorities will not be forced to transfer houses. It is optional for them, and they must secure the agreement of the tenants, so there are two checks on whether they go along that road. The figure of 200,000 is not a target that we expect them to meet. We are allocating expenditure to allow them to deal with the transfer of up to 200,000 houses.
I have shown that since we came to office, we have doubled the resources available, and I hope for more resources from the spending review. The money that we have put in and the changes that we are making will considerably improve housing and will ensure that many of the decisions must be agreed between the local authority and the tenants.
Ms Karen Buck (Regent's Park and Kensington, North):
May I congratulate my right hon. Friend on a wide-ranging and genuinely exciting set of housing options? I was particularly pleased to hear him refer to changes in the allocation procedure, which will introduce choice and flexibility to people who are often totally disempowered by the present process. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the investment in additional social housing is critical, particularly in London, where we currently house 40,000 families in bed-and-breakfast accommodation? Can we build on the success of the rough sleepers initiative, so that under a Labour Government we will end the scandal of children growing up in bed-and-breakfast accommodation?
Mr. Prescott:
My hon. Friend's view is consistent with what my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has said about children and homelessness. I very much agree with her remarks about tenants having choice. Most of us who have dealt with the points system with our various councils understand it to be fair, but it is discriminatory. It leaves many people dissatisfied with the system. We are trying to improve choice so that the tenant feels part of the system and not that he is being told to take it or leave it, which has undermined a great deal of public housing.
I take my hon. Friend's point that the amount of investment in social housing in London is critical. Apart from the provision of housing, we look for social housing and mixed development in new development sites. I am delighted that 20 per cent. of the millennium village concept that we are developing at Greenwich will be affordable housing.
Mr. Edward Leigh (Gainsborough):
Will the Deputy Prime Minister say a little more about housing benefit reform, into which a Select Committee is conducting a comprehensive inquiry? He said that this reform is the greenest part of his statement. When does he expect to come to a conclusion on the matter? He must accept that the present system distorts the market, as he has said so. I detected the hand of 10 Downing street in the lauding of the market heard in the right hon. Gentleman's statement. Is he prepared to consider fundamental reforms such as giving help to tenants so that they can shop around
Mr. Prescott:
Many of the proposals in the Green Paper cover some of the points to which the hon. Gentleman has referred. Anyone who has had to consider housing benefit and structural rents will realise that they raise complex issues. I have suggested before that, if we make adjustments to rents and housing benefit and to all the issues that would flow from that, there would be gainers and losers. That is my answer to those who ask, "How long will it take?" We must ensure that the period of transition during which change is introduced will be fair to all concerned. Fundamental changes will not come overnight. We want consensus. As I have said, the hon. Gentleman's proposals are mentioned in the Green Paper.
Ms Glenda Jackson (Hampstead and Highgate):
May I congratulate my right hon. Friend on approaching housing, or rather the lack of it, in such an imaginative and practical way? I congratulate him also on acknowledging that housing, be it public or private, is a national asset and that the nation must work to maintain it. At the same time, he has restated firmly and comprehensively Labour's commitment to social housing.
In central London, there is an increasing problem in the private sector, where exploitative landlords are increasing their rents year on year. Elderly and frail people, whose incomings are frozen, see their outgoings increasing every year. I hope that my right hon. Friend will address this issue with some speed. I follow the example of my right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Gorton (Mr. Kaufman) in making a plea for a pilot private finance initiative for the Chalcot estate in my constituency.
Mr. Prescott:
I hear what my hon. Friend says about special pleading. Presumably there must be proposed measures in the Green Paper that are welcome, and I am delighted that that is so. I wish my hon. Friend good luck with the application.
I think that right hon. and hon. Members on both sides of the House recognise that housing is a national asset. We must have housing policies. Governments have been actively involved in the housing programme, with a commitment especially to social housing. However, there is clearly a difference between the parties in the priorities that we deploy in dealing with social housing, as we have seen today.
There is a major problem with the private sector and exploitative landlords. There are very good landlords but there are also bad ones, who get a great deal of publicity. We want to deal with them because we do not think that they are fair. As is mentioned in the Green Paper, sometimes bad landlords act in collusion with tenants. That undermines good will and good policy, and in some cases it is clearly fraudulent and criminal. We shall take whatever action we can to prevent it.
Mr. Paul Tyler (North Cornwall):
Does the Deputy Prime Minister recognise that some of the worst areas in terms of the housing affordability gap are those where there is a disproportionate number of second homes that create an artificial market, such as Cornwall and the lake
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |