HC Deb 08 November 1978 vol 957 cc947-50
13. Mr. Costain

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to make more private accommodation available to let.

Mr. Freeson

The Government are stimulating a number of initiatives to increase variety of tenure and the number of dwellings for rent; but the availability of rented accommodation outside the public sector depends also on many factors unaffected by legislation and other Government measures.

Mr. Costain

Has not the right hon. Gentleman been in his Department long enough for someone to have told him that the only commodity constantly in short supply—housing to rent—is the only commodity that has been controlled for a number of years? Does he take account of the fact that, as the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight (Mr. Ross) points out, there are large sums of money in pension funds, and would not pension funds be much better put into building houses to rent than into buying antiques?

Mr. Freeson

I think that the hon. Gentleman may well have a point about tapping alternative sources of finance to get such resources directed more effectively into housing provision. Any suggestion that that would best be done—as I think may be the hon. Gentleman's implication, if I may accuse him of making it—by dismantling the basic principles of the Rent Act, I would not accept.

Mr. Ronald Atkins

Is it not astonishing to hear from an Opposition Member a plea for the Government to intervene in the private rented sector? Is it not the failure of that sector for generations that has made Government supporters urge the provision of more public rented accommodation, which is consistently opposed by the Opposition?

Mr. Freeson

I accept my hon. Friend's general point. Indeed, it has been under this Government and previous Labour Governments that two things have happened. First, there has been the maintenance of the actual number of rented dwellings, contrary to many generalised remarks that are made. There are about 8 million rented dwellings in this country today; there were 8 million rented dwellings in this country 30-odd years ago. The other thing, which we have begun to do in recent times, is gradually to bring private finance into the provision of publicly rented housing. This has been done essentially so far through the Housing Corporation, but there are further prospects for the future also.

Mr. Heseltine

Will the Minister's proposals to give security of tenure to public sector tenants affect the working of the North Wiltshire scheme? Is he yet in a position to give a firm date for the publication of the Rent Acts review?

Mr. Freeson

On the last point, no; but I hope that it will not be too long. On the first question, the hon. Gentleman is no doubt referring to the concept of leasing by local authorities of privately owned dwellings. It is declared policy to encourage this concept. My ideas on this matter, as I have made public, go much further than the rather limited concept of the so-called North Wiltshire scheme. I believe that there is great potential in long-term leasing of private accommodation in appropriate circumstances by local authorities and, in due course I hope, by housing associations to improve conditions and to give better rental provision for the tenants concerned.

As to the effect of our proposals in the proposed Housing Bill, I see no prospect of what we have in mind there affecting the possibility of developing the concept of leasing.

Mr. Weetch

Is my right hon. Friend aware that in my constituency sharp absentee landlords are operating quite unscrupulous rental purchase schemes? Is he further aware that the unfortunate, and often inarticulate people caught by these schemes have no lawful protection of tenure and can be dispossessed at will? Has he had similar complaints from other parts of the country, and will he undertake an investigation into the whole rental purchase procedure?

Mr. Freeson

Rental purchase in particular circumstances, and operated in an appropriate fashion, can be an acceptable form of hire purchase of one's own home. However, "phoney" schemes such as that referred to by my hon. Friend have been introduced by some unscrupulous people as a means of dodging the Rent Acts, thereby creating difficulties for the tenants concerned. A number of individual cases have been reported to us and we are looking at them in the context of the Rent Acts review. If my hon. Friend, or any other hon. Member, cares to give me details of schemes which are operating in this way in his and other areas, I shall certainly consider the mater further in the context of the review.

Mr. Evelyn King

Apart from other rental legislation, does the Minister accept that when security of tenure was given to tenants of furnished accommodation large numbers of units of accommodation were withdrawn from the market? Has he any estimate of the number of persons who have been rendered homeless on that account?

Mr. Freeson

No. I think that, if anything, the opposite effect has been produced. I can give a broad indication about what we think happened in the immediate wake of the Rent Act 1974. There was a drop in the number of lettings available at that time. The best available estimates—they are only sample estimates—suggest that in particular areas of London initially there was a 20 per cent. drop, but there was a considerable recovery later as people learnt the true facts about the operation of the Act. What is equally important, if not more so, is that reports from a number of agencies which have been helping people suffering from or threatened with eviction have shown reductions of 40 per cent., 50 per cent. and 60 per cent. in the case load of people previously threatened with eviction prior to the security provisions being made available under the Rent Act 1974.