§ 4. Mr. HeddleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he intends to take to monitor efforts by local councils to reduce rent arrears.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Mrs. Marion Roe)My Department monitors local authorities' performance in collecting rent arrears through their annual subsidy claim forms, which give the rent arrears figures at the end of each financial year. The latest figures for 1 April 1987 were placed in the Library of the House on 20 January.
§ Mr. HeddleIs not £250 million owed to councils in rent arrears? Are not some Labour-controlled authorities owed between 20 and 30 per cent. of their rent rolls? Is that not a scandal and gross negligence by those authorities? Should not rent collection from and the management of council estates be put out to the private sector?
§ Mrs. RoeDirect Government intervention in the performance of individual local authorities would serve no useful purpose. As day-to-day management functions are matters for them, it would be wrong for the Government to intervene. I agree that the current levels of arrears in some local authorities are an unjustifiable waste of resources. They place an immense burden on those tenants and ratepayers who have to bear the costs of interest charges and, ultimately, the writing off of debt.
§ Mr. EasthamIs it not true that since 1979 rents have risen two or threefold under this Government? Does that not mean that more than half of tenants' income is accounted for by rent? From 1 April, will not those arrears probably increase and their incidence accelerate?
§ Mrs. RoeWe do not accept that high rent levels lead to arrears because tenants cannot afford to pay the rent. Individual local authorities have discretion to set rents that reflect the location, size and amenities of their dwellings. However, we continually seek to persuade local authorities to set rents sufficiently high to ensure that funds are available for repair and maintenance. The housing benefit system exists to help tenants in real need.
§ Mr. GowWill my hon. Friend reconsider her answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Staffordshire (Mr. Heddle)? Is not the total of rent arrears, which now stands 1090 at £250 million, larger than ever before? Is it not clear that the Department should take powers to bring that scandalous state to an end?
§ Mrs. RoeLocal authorities have repeatedly been warned about the damaging effects of arrears, most recently in a circular issued in May 1987. That warned that we would not rule out the possibility of legislation if authorities continued to fail to bring the problem under proper control. We shall keep the matter under review.
§ Mr. SoleyRather than the Government making persistent attacks on local democracy, would it not be more constructive if they responded to our offer to reform housing finance to make it fairer for those who rent or buy? Not only could we then deal with those made homeless because of mortgage or rent arrears, but we could do something about a Chancellor of the Exchequer who is sufficiently inept to push people out of the privately owned sector while giving tax handouts to potential Rachmanite landlords.