HC Deb 16 April 1975 vol 890 cc417-8
4. Mr. Lane

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his latest assessment of the effect of the Rent Act 1974 on availability of private rented accommodation.

The Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. Gerald Kaufman)

My Department is so far as practicable monitoring the effects of the Act. But it will not for some time be possible to say what its effects on the supply of private rented accommodation have been.

Mr. Lane

Will the Minister acknowledge the increasing evidence in my constituency that the 1974 Act is having the unintended effect of diminishing the available pool of rented accommodation for families, married couples, single people and students? Will he receive sympathetically the dossier I shall soon be sending him and take whatever corrective steps are then found necessary?

Mr. Kaufman

I shall certainly be glad to study whatever dossier and other evidence the hon. Gentleman has available, because criticism of the Act so far has been based on anecdote rather than on assembled fact.

Mr. Clegg

Will the Minister tell us how much furnished accommodation the public sector is providing at the moment?

Mr. Kaufman

Will the hon. Gentleman tell me how much privately rented accommodation is being provided under the legislation introduced by the previous Conservative Government? [HON. MEMBERS: "Answer."] Local authorities have a duty to provide rented accommodation, and they are providing far more than they did under the Conservative Government.

Mr. MacCormick

Does the Minister appreciate that in holiday resorts there is the problem that people do not like to let accommodation all the year round because during the summer they can let it temporarily for a much greater return?

Mr. Kaufman

I recognise that problem, but protections of one kind always lead to problems of another kind. In the Rent Act 1974 we sought to strike a suitable balance. All the evidence I have received shows that we have struck that balance.

Mr. Raison

Will the Minister accept that it is his job to answer questions rather than to ask them? Will he also accept that there is mounting evidence, for instance, from "After Six", that there is a desperate problem of furnished accommodation following the 1974 Act? Will he set up an inquiry into the possibility of some new form of short let?

Mr. Kaufman

I am interested to see that "After Six" has replaced "Time out" as the source of information for the Conservative Party. The "After Six" survey was based on the notice boards of eight newsagents and seven local London newspapers. The chairman of "After Six", in a letter to the Sunday Times on 13th April, referred to the survey which the hon. Gentleman has mentioned and said: Further it is very inconclusive as it may show merely a short-term reaction to legislation difficult to understand. In any event, the effects appeared to be very different in different parts of London.