§ 21. Mr. Prenticeasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what steps he is taking to measure the growing number of notices to quit arising from 65 the operation of the Rent Act; and if he will make a statement showing the scale of the increase during the current year.
§ 41. Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what steps he is taking to measure the growing number of notices to quit arising from the operation of the Rent Act; and if he will make a statement showing the scale of the increase during the current year.
§ Sir K. JosephInformation about the number of notices served, without regard to the outcome or to the circumstances of particular cases, would have little value. In the London area, however, relationships between tenants and their landlords are being examined in the course of the London housing survey now in progress.
§ Mr. PrenticeIs it not time that the Minister began to assess the growing crisis in overcrowded areas due to the increasing proportion of houses becoming decontrolled under the Rent Act? Is he aware that, in the County Borough of East Ham, the council was, in March, aware of 133 outstanding cases of notices to quit and, at the end of September, six months later, the number had grown to 234, almost double the incidence in six months?
§ Sir K. JosephButnot all notices to quit take effect and not all notices to quit are on the basis of rent or a different use of the property by the landlord. As the hon. Gentleman knows, councils have the opportunity to propose a compulsory purchase order if they regard an exorbitant rent as threatening homelessness.
§ Mr. AllaunWill the Minister examine the cases I have sent him from Salford of houses without a bath, hot water or inside lavatory, with rents controlled at 9s. 6d. a week up to 1958 but now with rents of £3 a week, and £4 being asked? Is it not clear that, every day, the pool of controlled houses is shrinking, following creeping decontrol?
§ Sir K. JosephI will gladly examine any cases which the hon. Gentleman cares to send me, but it is true also 66 that to those people who are waiting for a home of their own this process gives an opportunity of getting for the first time a dwelling of their own. This also has to be borne in mind.
§ Mr. MellishIs not the Minister aware that, in fact, the number of homeless families in the hostels owned by the London County Council is greater now than ever before and that an examination of the figures discloses that the victims in the hostels are victims of the Rent Act? How can the Minister ignore these facts? What does he propose to do in order to overcome the problem?
§ Sir K. JosephWhile the figures are far higher than one would wish in any way, they are not at their peak but are declining slightly—
§ Mr. MellishThat is not true.
§ Sir K. Joseph—and there is no reason to think that the bulk of these cases are in any way due to the Rent Act. Many of the people who have lost their property would never have had the tenancies which they have lost if it had not been for the Rent Act in the first place.
§ Mr. M. StewartWhen the Minister says that homelessness has passed its peak, on what evidence does he base that assertion? Ever since August of this year, it has been going up in London.
§ Sir K. JosephAs the House will appreciate, I watch these figures with desperate care. The level has just come down; in the last four weeks there has been a downward trend. I did not say that it is past its peak because I cannot foretell the future, but it is below its past peak.
§ Mr. StewartIf the Rent Act was supposed to provide more homes for people, what has happened since it was passed if, in fact, the number of homeless has increased all the time?
§ Sir K. JosephBecause of increasing migration both from abroad and from places in this country concentrated in certain areas, and because rising standards give rise to a growing demand for houses. These are facts behind the present problem.