§ Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Brandreth.]
9.59 pm§ Mr. Hartley Booth (Finchley)My debate relates to empty homes, but at this time of night it might better have related to an empty Chamber. There are 800,000 empty homes, and this important matter was the subject of my ten-minute Bill on 27 February 1996. Since then, the number of empty homes has fallen by 15,000 but that disguises the fact that public sector voids have risen. Great play is often made of the fall in the provision of new homes from nearly 400,000 in the 1960s to fewer than 200,000 in 1990.
It being Ten o'clock, the motion for the Adjournment of the House lapsed, without Question put.
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.[Mr. Brandreth.]
While no one would suggest that the huge stock of void premises would resolve both the demand for new homes and the need to house homeless people, a fair analysis of the housing market would place much more emphasis on facilitating the release of more empty houses for use.
House builders lament the fall in the number of new homes, perhaps not surprisingly. Luminaries such as Michael Ball of South Bank university and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation conclude that more house building is needed. They make powerful arguments but they must be put alongside other factors.
The number of public sector empty homes rose last year. Local authorities voids went up from 2 to 2.3 per cent. of stock. In housing associations, voids rose from 2.4 to 2.5 per cent. In other public sector bodies, including Government Departments, voids went up from 16 to 17 per cent. More details have been supplied today to the Library.
Conventional wisdom on housing policy gives almost exclusive attention to new building. We need a wider horizon. First, new buildings often infill existing housing space and destroy the character of our neighbourhoods in north London and elsewhere. Secondly, in consequence of infilling with new houses, it is less likely that we will be able to find places off the roads to park and store the burgeoning number of vehicles that this prosperous Government have produced.
Thirdly, new land is often used because demolition and site clearance or, worse, decontamination of existing sites, are expensive. Fourthly, it takes pressure off the need to use existing housing. Fifthly, and fundamental to this debate, it is an indictment of us all that housing is kept empty. It is frustrating, and annoying to the homeless. It creates an eyesore and is a blight on adjacent housing stock. Finally, empty homes often lead to squatting, which is ghastly for all concerned.
My debate aims to examine a new way in which to encourage, and in some cases compel, the use of empty public property. I have been greatly assisted by the Empty Homes Agency. I have advised the all-party group on homelessness and housing needs of my proposals. I am pleased that there is widespread interest and support. Everyone recognises the overwhelming need to make the best possible use of our housing stock, not least because the homeless deserve the support of the House.
§ Dr. Robert Spink (Castle Point)I congratulate my hon. Friend on obtaining this most important debate. 250 Will he join me in paying tribute to The Big Issue for running a petition that seeks to bring into use empty housing stock, which would go almost all the way to resolving our homelessness problem?
§ Mr. BoothI am grateful for that intervention, which was perspicacious, if not telepathic, because my next sentence is that I commend the concern of the magazine, The Big Issue, which has also supported my Bill.
Although this is not ten-minute rule procedure, I take this opportunity briefly to explain to the House the proposals contained in my Bill, which I believe will be useful. They are contained in an ambitious draft document entitled "The Empty Homes Bill 1997". The Bill gives formal expression to ideas on how we could better use unoccupied buildings. It requires local authorities to designate an empty property officer responsible for securing the re-use of unoccupied residential buildings owned by public bodies within the authority's area.
It is always open to a Government who might wish to introduce the policy to allow for the appointment of a surveyor from the private sector to act as such an officer, rather than add to a local authority's payroll. The officer would be empowered to investigate ownership and order the reoccupation of all unoccupied buildings owned by local authorities, Government Departments and executive agencies, including housing associations, by people in housing need. I suggest that the residential building should have been unoccupied for six months, although the precise period could be settled later.
My previous attempt to propose policy in this area was construed by some merely as an attack on local authorities. This Bill takes an all-party approach—
§ Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Michael Morris)Order. The hon. Gentleman will be aware that in an Adjournment debate he cannot promote a Bill. I am sure that he is referring to a document or some other piece of material.
§ Mr. BoothI am grateful to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for being so courteous in your instruction.
This document takes an all-party approach, and attacks all public bodies from both central and local government. Paragraph 2.4 of my suggested policy provides a comprehensive list of those bodies. It is important to give the new empty property officers some power, so the next section empowers them to investigate and obtain information about the ownership and control of void property, then to recover their expenses against the body responsible for that empty home.
Officers may publish details of property if they feel that publication will, in itself, secure the swift re-use of residential premises. They are also empowered to contact the owner in writing, ordering reoccupation of the building within 28 days. They can further order that the residential occupant may be a family or household in housing need. Their power to order the use of an empty property has some exemptions, one of which is the Ministry of Defence in certain circumstances. Empty homes officers can also exempt those who have satisfied them that they will use their property within six months or demolish it within that period. Obviously, in the real world one must allow for those changes.
The county court would be given the authority to supervise the proceedings and provide a safeguard to balance the needs of public bodies with the dire needs 251 of homeless families. The county court's power may include ordering a grant of freehold or leasehold to a family in certain circumstances. The business of property rights, however, is tricky. Public bodies own nothing in their own right but are simply trustees for all of us.
The public need to be protected and, in addition to inserting the role of the county court, the next section of my proposal ensures that, if a conflict of interests arises between an empty homes officer and his local authority, a neighbouring authority should nominate an alternative officer through the good offices of the Secretary of State, represented tonight by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, the hon. Member for Hertsmere (Mr. Clappison).
The proposers of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980, which allowed people to require the disposal of property, will find it interesting that there is an admirable example of a link with their pioneer legislation. I propose that the public request to order disposal of land and buildings procedure—what a mouthful—known as PROD for short, be harnessed to require disposal of certain homes to meet local authority or local housing need. In all cases, where freeholds are transferred, compensation will come into the equation.
Last but not least, under my Bill local authorities would be required to prepare and publish an empty properties strategy each year, to secure the re-use of unoccupied residential premises in their area. The duty follows full consultation with landlords and professional advisers, and should include information on the number of unoccupied properties in the authority area and provide details of ownership and location. Annual targets should be set, and measures that the local authority considers practical should be agreed to achieve full occupation.
It is our duty in the House to provide for the needs of those who find it hardest to help themselves, and those who are homeless must join the top of the list. It is to our shame that we have in our country so many empty properties yet about 150,000 people are defined by law as homeless. The Government have done a great deal, through the rough sleepers initiative, which I commend, and a host of other policies for the homeless, but I and others still identify a problem.
Unlike most problems, the problem contains the seeds of its own solution; uniquely, we can solve one problem by putting another right. We can substantially resolve the problem of homelessness by putting right our failure as a community to use empty public property adequately. For the sake of our cities, for the sake of the good name of the House and for all those who have no homes tonight, I urge the House that, better than acting, we should enact my proposal.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. James Clappison)I welcome the opportunity to respond to this debate on an important subject. My hon. Friend the Member for Finchley (Mr. Booth) has demonstrated before the House his long-standing knowledge and expertise on this subject, in which he has taken a great interest for many years.
I assure my hon. Friend that it is of continuing concern to the Government that every potential home in the public or private sector be used. The Government's best estimates point to a 4.4 million growth in the number of 252 households between 1991 and the year 2016 and, as my hon. Friend rightly argued, against that background we must have a strategy that makes best use of all existing housing. We cannot afford to have homes lying empty, for the reasons that my hon. Friend eloquently set out, and the desire to make best use of our homes is widely shared, as my hon. Friend the Member for Castle Point (Dr. Spink) emphasised in his intervention.
The latest figures, for 1 April 1996, show a welcome overall estimated 9 per cent. reduction in the number of vacant dwellings in England since April 1993. That is welcome news, but every home lying empty unnecessarily—owned by a local authority or housing association or privately owned—is a wasted resource, which could provide a home for someone in housing need.
As my right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Urban Regeneration said when launching the empty homes week of action on 17 February, there is a role for each of us to play in addressing the problem. I hope that my hon. Friend the Member for Finchley and the House will agree, after hearing my response to his speech, that much is already being done by the Government and all the relevant agencies.
Empty homes fall into different categories, according to their ownership. I will deal first with the local authority sector. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Urban Regeneration announced on 14 February that the number of local authority "management" vacants—dwellings that are ready for occupation immediately, or after minor works—rose to 47,700 at 1 April 1996, from 41,000 in April 1995. That is disappointing news. My hon. Friend made some observations about that, with which it is hard to disagree.
The Government encourage local authorities to find ways of maximising the use of their existing stock. Authorities can do that in a number of ways. For example, they can reduce under-occupation, first by ensuring that tenants are allocated homes that are the right size for their needs; secondly, by using transfers, exchanges and mobility schemes to release under-occupied dwellings, and thirdly, by using cash incentive schemes to encourage tenants to move to smaller homes or to buy a home in the private sector.
Collaboration between housing associations and local authorities to tackle under-occupation is essential. Local authorities can use their nomination rights to housing associations' dwellings and they can work with housing associations on planning new developments so as to achieve the right size of dwelling and type of housing.
§ Dr. SpinkDoes my hon. Friend agree that one of the best things that local authorities can do, especially those who deal with run-down local authority housing estates, is to pass those estates to the ownership of non-profit-making organisations, which generally run them much better, in the interests of tenants and the homeless?
§ Mr. ClappisonMy hon. Friend will be aware of the efforts that we have made to promote housing transfer and to bring private investment into housing, and especially of the efforts that we have made to help the poorest estates, through the estates renewal challenge fund. It gave me pleasure yesterday to visit in Durham one of the first of those estates to pass to a housing association. That has been met with great optimism in Durham.
253 Housing associations' performance in minimising their empty properties is generally good, and their vacancy rate is fairly stable. Housing associations are now required, collectively, to generate 500 extra lettings each year, by bringing vacant levels down further. The Housing Corporation publishes performance indicators which show that the target is being met. We can expect continued improvements as the corporation takes an increasing interest in the performance of individual housing associations.
The Government fully accept that they, too, should keep their own house in order. Government Departments have made great strides over the past few years to tackle the problem of empty homes. The number of empty homes on the civil estate fell by almost 600 between April 1995 and April 1996, and more exacting targets were set for 1996–97. That is on top of significant reductions achieved the previous year. We are particularly keen to ensure that Departments do not hold on to their empty properties for long periods. That is why we have set separate targets for tackling properties that are empty for more than six months.
Our key objective remains that of getting empty Government-owned properties into the hands of those who can make best use of them, and we encourage Government Departments to consider the option of sale or lease for social housing. Sale to the private sector can also help to address housing need, by creating home ownership opportunities and expanding the supply of rented housing.
One of the notable facts about empty homes is that by far the greatest number of vacancies is in the private rented sector. It is encouraging to see that the numbers of empty homes in the private sector have fallen, from 690,000 in 1995 to 667,000 in 1996. Nobody pretends that it is easy to find a solution to the problem, as the reasons for privately owned property lying empty are complex. Research carried out for my Department by a university showed that many privately owned properties are empty for valid reasons, reflecting normal transactions in the market. However, there are longer-term, problematic vacancies that require attention.
Local authorities have a role in tackling that problem, not only by keeping their own empty properties to a minimum, but by developing a corporate approach, working in partnership with housing associations, private owners and developers, property professionals and other public and voluntary sector bodies.
The problem of empty homes cannot be tackled in isolation. The most effective projects are part of broader-based regeneration programmes, tackling housing problems alongside unemployment, training, crime prevention and so on. For that reason, we have maintained the existing level of funding under the single regeneration budget for this year.
However, the most important role for Government is to create the conditions for a healthier housing market and remove obstacles to its effective working. The housing market is now on a firm upward trend. Low interest rates and low inflation mean that housing is now more affordable than it has been since the early 1970s. There could not be a better time for the first-time buyer to enter the market.
254 We have also put together a package of measures that will make letting a home easier and safer, and that will play an important part in encouraging more owners of empty properties to let them. The Housing Act 1988 made letting an empty property a more viable option by removing rent control and introducing the assured shorthold tenancy. The Housing Act 1996 progressed the situation further, making it easier for owners to let their properties on an assured shorthold tenancy and for landlords to get their properties back if tenants do not pay their rent or cause a nuisance to local people.
My hon. Friend went into some detail about his ideas for tackling these problems, such as appointing an empty property officer. I hope that he will not mind if I do not go into the details of his proposals. I know that my hon. Friend has had some interesting discussions about them. I assure him that we are anxious to see the records of some local authorities improve in this field. We want the worst performers to try to lift their standards to those of the best, who have set a good example in this area. The hon. Member for Greenwich (Mr. Raynsford) seems unable to restrain himself, so I shall give way.
§ Mr. Nick Raynsford (Greenwich)I have restrained myself from commenting in the debate so far. I apologise to the hon. Member for Finchley (Mr. Booth) for arriving late to the Chamber owing to a prior housing engagement. Nevertheless, I told him that I was keen to be present for the debate. I welcome his initiative in raising the issue of empty properties. As to the percentage of properties that are currently void, no local authority in the country has as bad a record as some Government Departments. I hope that the Minister will adopt the view that the Government should take the lead by putting their own house in order before they lecture others about the proportion of empty properties.
§ Mr. ClappisonI have already set out our approach to that situation, and the emphasis that we place on Government Departments' minimising the number of empty properties. However, I cannot allow to pass without comment the fact that the performances of local authorities vary widely in this area, as my hon. Friend correctly pointed out in his speech. The fact that some authorities are not reaching the standards of the best authorities means that hundreds—in some cases, even a thousand—properties are lying empty at a time of housing need.
Figures issued recently show the different performances of local authorities. The London borough of Islington has slightly more than 4 per cent. management vacancies, which is approximately twice the average for England. Other prominent offenders are Blackburn with 3.59 per cent., Tameside with 2.73 per cent., and Trafford with 2.74 per cent. They are percentages, but we will get some idea of the housing need if we look at the absolute figures. Some 1,484 properties are standing empty in Islington, 408 in Blackburn, 510 in Tameside and 320 in Trafford—nearly 3,000 potential homes. Other authorities in a 255 similar position to those authorities manage to achieve a much better rate. It would be possible for the authorities to meet the housing needs of many hundreds of people.
§ Mr. RaynsfordI am grateful to the Minister for giving way again.
§ Mr. Deputy SpeakerOrder. This is a Back-Bench Adjournment debate, and it should not be abused by Front Benchers.
§ Mr. ClappisonI hope that I have answered my hon. Friend's points and the concerns that he expressed about local authorities. While I do not want to go into all the details, we think that local authorities have an important role to play and we want them to meet high standards.
We regard empty property strategies as important, and we encourage local authorities to include a means of dealing with those properties in their housing strategies. We have given them every encouragement in that regard.
256 My hon. Friend mentioned the Empty Homes Agency, which was launched in 1992 by my right hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Acton (Sir G. Young), the present Secretary of State for Transport. My Department is part funding the agency for three years to work with local authorities to develop empty property strategies. The agency has made considerable progress: it is in contact with more than 250 authorities, some 160 of which are now taking specific action to reduce the number of empty properties in their areas. I am confident that that number will continue to grow.
We are playing an active role in addressing the problem on several fronts. It is a very important subject, and my hon. Friend has done the House a service by raising it this evening and by advancing his interesting, innovative and well-thought-out ideas.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Adjourned accordingly at twenty-four minutes past Ten o'clock.