HC Deb 12 July 1978 vol 953 cc1479-81
1. Mr. Hordern

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will introduce legislation to allow landlords to offer accommodation to tenants for short periods of up to one year without restrictive power of tenure, for the tenant.

The Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. Peter Shore)

Not unless I was convinced that any proposal which implied that tenants would not have the protection afforded by the Rent Acts had advantages that outweighed the obvious disadvantages to tenants.

Mr. Hordern

Is it not clear that there is a serious shortage of temporary accommodation? Is it not also clear that there are many people who are looking for temporary accommodation and a substantial amount of housing which would be made available if it were not for the very restrictive nature of present legislation? Will the right hon. Gentleman look at this matter again and see whether he can do something to ease the plight of those many families who are looking for short-term accommodation?

Mr. Shore

I accept that there is a need for accommodation generally, and within that general need there is a need for particular people to have temporary accommodation. The hon. Gentleman's proposal has, in a sense, a superficial attraction in addressing itself to that need. The real difficulty is that I do not believe that one can easily work out proposals that would not lead to the progressive and rapid undermining of the whole system of security of tenure in the private rented sector.

Mr. Sainsbury

Is the Secretary of State aware that most authorities seem to be of the opinion that the proposal would be beneficial to the supply of accommodation available to people seeking homes, particularly people seeking their first homes? Can the right hon. Gentleman say what information or what research he requires to be convinced one way or the other? If he can, that would give those who believe that it would be advantageous an opportunity to put the facts before him.

Mr. Shore

I am certainly not aware of any overwhelming body of evidence in favour of the viewpoint that the hon. Gentleman has just expressed, but I would also say—this is relevant to the supply of and demand for relatively short-term occupation—that to my mind there is today in the private rented sector a high degree of turnover. I was struck by the fact that according to the 1976 general household survey figures an estimated number of more than 400,000 lettings and relettings took place in that year alone in the private rented sector.

Mr. Douglas-Mann

Does my right hon. Friend agree that if the proposal were adopted every new letting would be on the basis of a one-year letting and rent regulation would totally disappear as a consequence, because no one would dare challenge the rent that had been proposed, for fear that his tenancy would not be renewed?

Mr. Shore

My hon. Friend has put his finger on the very difficulty. I do not see how one can police such a system without unacceptable repercussions across the whole rented sector to which he referred.

Mr. Rossi

Does the Secretary of State agree that figures have been canvassed which suggest, first, that there is a crude surplus of accommodation over families requiring it, and, secondly, that there are about 750,000 empty properties? If those two figures are correct, if the 750,000 empty properties could be brought into supply, problems of rent control and security of tenure would rapidly disappear. Would not it be right to encourage people with empty properties to bring them into use by telling them that if an empty property is let security of tenure will not apply to that new letting of property at present not being used?

Mr. Shore

The whole question of which new lettings would be covered by the Rent Acts and which would not would be a very tortuous and difficult business.

Mr. Rossi

Where there is a will, there is a way.

Mr. Shore

A major survey on empty property is now being undertaken, and it will establish not merely the numbers of properties that are empty but the reasons. I think that this will give us a much firmer basis of fact on which to consider these questions.