§ 10. Mr. Yeoasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce legislation to promote the availability of private flats and houses for rent.
§ Mr. GowThe Housing Act 1980 contained several provisions designed to stimulate the provision of private rented accommodation. I am considering whether further steps can be taken to encourage private landlords to meet the demand for homes to rent.
§ Mr. YeoDoes my hon. Friend accept that he could substantially increase the availability of private houses and flats for rent by repealing existing legislation? Does he further accept that by doing so he would, at no cost to the taxpayer, increase mobility of labour and thus take an important step towards reducing unemployment among young people?
§ Mr. GowI have already said to the House on several occasions that the Rent Acts, which were designed to assist those who wanted accommodation to rent, have injured the very people whom they were designed to help and have succeeded in many cases in drying up the supply of private rented accommodation. Nevertheless, the Government have already taken initiatives to help, notably by the introduction of shorthold and by the reduction of the interval from three to two years of the period after which a landlord can ask the rent officer to review the rent. As I have already made clear to the House, we are considering what further we can do.
§ Mr. WinnickWhy does the Minister not accept that when his party brought in the sort of measure that his hon. Friend the Member for South Suffolk (Mr. Yeo) is suggesting—for example the Rent Act 1957—it did not result in any way in providing more accommodation for letting, but produced Rachmanism? Is the Minister aware that private tenants will fight very hard to retain the rights that they must have against private landlords?