Council House Rents (Freeze) (Hansard, 7 July 1982)

§ Mr. David Winnick (Walsall, North)
I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to freeze council house rents for 12 months. The purpose of my Bill is to freeze council rents for 12 months from next April. In the past three years council rents have gone up by about 117 per cent. on average. The Secretary of State for the Environment, who is present today, announces each year the sum by which he expects local authorities to increase rents. The right hon. Gentleman has stated that he makes no apology for what can only be descrbed as exorbitant rent increases. In the same period that rents have gone up by 117 per cent., the increase in the retail price index has been less than half that figure.
This year, council rents have increased by nearly 20 per cent., and the Government's norm for incomes increases is 4 per cent. maximum. Only yesterday the Chancellor of the Exchequer said that he expects no increases in incomes for next year. These rent increases over the past three years have seriously undermined the living standards of a substantial number of tenants.
I am seeking permission to bring in my Bill because, with my Labour colleagues, I strongly believe that council tenants have been punished enough by this Government and it is time for at least a year without any rent increases. In case there is any opposition to my having leave to bring in such a Bill and it is argued that these rent increases are necessary, I point out that such increases have been introduced by the Secretary of State for two main purposes.
The first is to reduce substantially and then to phase out Government subsidies for local authority housing. Since the Government have been in office there has been a reduction of 41 per cent. in such subsidies. The second reason for these exorbitant rent increases applied by the Government is to exert pressure on council tenants to buy the houses in which they are living. The Government are saying, in effect, to council tenants "These increases will take place year after year and you will be better off buying your dwelling."
It cannot be argued, either, that such rent increases are needed for council house building. In 1981 the number of public sector housing starts was the lowest since 1924, except for wartime. It is now so rare to see council dwellings being built that one would want to take a photograph if one saw some. It is a unique event in Britain under this Government.
There is growing anger and resentment among tenants at the way in which they have been treated. They have been penalised and punished because they are council tenants. There is no justification for applying, year after year, the kind of rent increases that we have seen since 1979. The time has come to call a halt. There should be a freeze for 12 months. I am not arguing that once that freeze is over the rent increases that have been applied should start all over again.
It is the policy of the Labour Party that when the next Labour Government comes in there should be a rent freeze for 12 months. I am anticipating such a policy.

§ Mr. Teddy Taylor (Southend, East)
rose—

§ Mr. Speaker
Does the hon. Gentleman wish to oppose the Bill?

§ Mr. Taylor
Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Although the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick) put his case very eloquently, it would be irresponsible for such a Bill to be approved without a voice being raised against it, because, as the hon. Member knows, a freeze on rents would mean more on rates. The hon. Gentleman gave not a shred of justification for the proposed alteration in payments by two groups of people. He produced no evidence to show that those who live in council houses are suffering greater hardships than many of those who are finding it extremely difficult to pay their rates. We all accept that any payment causes hardship, but there is ample evidence that many people are finding it extremely difficult to pay ever-increasing rates, which in many cases have soared far higher than council rents.
If we approved the Bill, it would undoubtedly discourage the sale of council houses. It would do a great disservice to council tenants who are in a position to purchase. There is no doubt that a person living in a council house, deprived of the opportunity of mobility and of obtaining an asset, is in a much worse position than a person who can purchase. All the evidence shows that those who have taken advantage of the opportunity to buy their homes have the prospect of putting something aside in savings, of having an asset, of having more mobility, and of being freed from what I consider is wrong—that is, paying rents all their lives and having nothing to show at the end.
The traditional reason for increased rents, apart from spasmodic movements, is that costs increase. It was irresponsible of the hon. Gentleman to say what he did without making a plea for moderation in wage claims. A few minutes ago, we heard the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) say that he wanted lower water charges, but he has never led any marches calling for wage restraint among those who work in the industry. We in this House must be responsible and say that someone must pay. We should concentrate, not on silly political slogans, but on finding real solutions to the problems of council tenants and others, and that involves finding ways of being more efficient and improving services and management.
The main reason why I oppose the Bill is that, instead of looking for silly political slogans as an answer, we should look for ways of reducing the costs of every tenant and ratepayer. Let me give an example. This morning it was announced in Southend that, after the first year's full audit of our newly privatised cleansing service, we had saved ratepayers £502,000 out of a cost of £2 million. If we did that for all the services, we could freeze rents, freeze rates, and give everyone a better service.
Question put and agreed to.
Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. David Winnick, Mr. Frank Allaun, Mr. Bob Cryer, Mr. Allan Roberts, Mr. Derek Foster, Mr. D. N. Campbell-Savours, Mr. David Stoddart, Mr. Julius Silverman, Mr. David Watkins, Mr. Dennis Skinner, Mr. Alfred Dubs and Mr. Thomas Clarke.