HC Deb 14 June 1978 vol 951 cc996-8
13. Mr. George Rodgers

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will seek powers to modify excessive increases in the level of council house rents imposed by individual local authorities.

Mr. Freeson

I see no reason to extend existing powers to restrict council rents.

Mr. Rodgers

Does my right hon. Friend agree that many council house tenants are the captives of reactionary Tory councils, and is it not true that many of these councils have imposed massive rent increases in spite of the windfall brought about by reduced loan charges in the last year? Do not rent increases of this nature stimulate both inflation and wage demands? What steps are being taken to protect those tenants?

Mr. Freeson

Under the Housing Rents and Subsidies Act 1975, which we introduced, we treated as a central issue the return to local authorities of the right to fix rents. That right was taken away by the previous Conservative Government's Housing Finance Act 1972. We would therefore be loth to increase powers in this direction. On the general question of rent levels this year, as I understood the position earlier this year, when decisions were being made by local authorities. I did not expect exorbitant increases to be proposed. There may have been one or two, but I believe the vast majority were very moderate. I cannot tell at this stage whether there have been any changes in policy subsequent to recent events, so I am not yet in a position to judge.

Mr. Tebbit

Will the right hon. Gentleman tell his hon. Friend the Member for Chorley (Mr. Rodgers) that many ratepayers are the prisoners of Labour-controlled councils and that they are getting pretty fed up with the situation in which under many authorities the rents from council housing do not even cover the current costs of running the estates, let alone the capital and interest charges that are due upon them?

Mr. Freeson

That is a most exceptional situation. It is not common. It happens most commonly among Conservative-controlled authorities in Greater London. Generally, the level of rate fund contributions varies enormously across the country regardless of the political nature of the control in the town halls. To my knowledge it is not the case that all Conservative-controlled councils avoid any kind of rate fund contribution, any more than it is true that all Labour-controlled councils make such contributions. It depends very much on local costs and difficulties.