HC Deb 26 March 1996 vol 274 c826
12. Mr. Gallie

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to improve standards in houses in multiple occupation; and if he will make a statement. [20947]

Mr. Curry

The Housing Bill, which is currently in Committee, contains a very substantial package of measures designed to improve standards in houses in multiple occupation in England and Wales.

Mr. Gallie

I thank my hon. Friend for that reply. In Scotland there are great problems, particularly in town centres where large numbers of older premises are taken over by housing benefit tenants, many of whom live in very cramped conditions. Can my hon. Friend help to relieve that problem?

Mr. Curry

I know how energetically my hon. Friend works in his constituency. He will know that the Housing Bill, which I am presently taking through the House, contains special control provisions. They will be available for registration schemes where there is a real problem with a concentration of benefit hostels, and they will give local authorities a great deal more discretion in their ability to manage such hostels in the event of management failure. I shall certainly draw my hon. Friend's point to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, because it may be that some of the circumstances in his constituency reflect those in the English towns where we have sought to address those problems.

Mrs. Anne Campbell

Is the Minister aware that people are 28 times more likely to be killed or injured by fire in multiple-occupation houses than in other accommodation? Why is he letting his obsession with deregulation override the need for a mandatory licensing system that would raise standards and save lives?

Mr. Curry

The hon. Lady has not understood the measure. A registration scheme is available for all local authorities that wish to apply it. The measures in the Housing Bill extend the duty of local authorities to ensure adequate means of escape from fire to a much wider range of houses in multiple occupation and allows them to introduce a duty on HMO landlords to make sure that there is adequate fire safety. The measures that we are placing in the hands of local authorities, which are responsible for these matters, give them adequate powers to deal with these matters without being excessively bureaucratic.