Houses: Starts and Completions (Hansard, 16 October 1989)

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, the latest figures for Great Britain for the first eight months of 1989 show 138,000 dwellings started and 124,000 completed. The corresponding figures for the same eight months of 1988 were 169,000 and 142,000 respectively, and for 1978, 179,000 and 184,000 respectively.

§ Lord Dean of Beswick
My Lords, do not the figures given by the Minister indicate that the housing problem is becoming worse as a result of the diminishing role of the building programme itself? Is the Minister aware that people throughout the country who deal with house building and the provision of housing are saying that house building is grinding to a standstill, and that, as a consequence, hardly any new properties are being sold? Is that not an urgent situation about which the Government should do something immediately?

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, in 1988 total starts and completions were at their highest levels since 1978 and 1980 respectively. Starts and completions in the private sector in 1988 were both at their highest level since 1973, so the decline for the first three quarters of this year is from an exceptionally high level. Capital expenditure on housing this year —1989–90 —will be £4.2 billion, 12 per cent. higher than previously planned. Over the next three years planned public investment in housing totals nearly £13 billion. Since 1979, no fewer than 1.9 million additional dwellings have been added to the housing stock. It cannot therefore be claimed that the Government have neglected housing.

§ Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran
My Lords, will the Minister break down his figures, either now or later, so that we can compare the housing figures for single people for the years concerned in the Question with those for the last period, and see how they vary?

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, I regret that I do not have those figures with me. I shall be glad to let the noble Lord have them on another occasion. I shall write to him.

§ Lord Stallard
My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that in 1981 the figures for bed-and-breakfast accommodation stood at 1,620 and that in 1987 644 the figures for bed-and-breakfast accommodation, hostels and short-life accommodation stood at over 30,000? How do those figures square with the statement that he has just made that the Government are not neglecting housing?

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, I do not have those figures with me, but the noble Lord will be aware that the department is currently reviewing homelessness and that the report will be published shortly.

§ Lord Dean of Beswick
My Lords, if the figures given by the Minister in his answer to my first supplementary question are an indication of the Government's success—as he says—over the last decade, why is the number of homeless people in this country ballooning upwards every week? Why can local authorities no longer build houses and why is even the voluntary sector having to curtail and reduce its building programme? The 1 per cent. that went on the bank rate last year severely restricted and cut the housing programme across the board. Both the private and public sectors will subscribe to that. I therefore wish to ask the Minister whether he will plead with the new Secretary of State, Mr. Patten, to indemnify local authorities against the further increase in interest rates when he settles the housing investment programme for the next financial year; otherwise, they will be building nothing.

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, the Government do not believe that the way forward for subsidised housing is through a major new house building programme by local authorities whose housing stock even today is one of the largest in Western Europe. The Government consider that housing associations offer the best means of targeting resources where they are most needed. Registered housing associations already provide homes for well over 1 million people and are to be the main providers of additional, subsidised accommodation for those in housing need in the future. Accordingly, government funding of the Housing Corporation which in turn is the main source of funds for housing associations will rise from £815 million in 1989–90 to £1.3 billion by 1991–92, an increase of 60 per cent. The housing associations are also able to draw on a rapidly increasing volume of private sector loan finance.

§ Lord Dean of Beswick
My Lords, I am sorry to come back so quickly on this question. I believe however that the Minister has missed the main point. The 1 per cent. increase in the bank rate has devastated the real purchasing power of the sums that he mentioned. Will he consult the new Secretary of State to see whether the local authorities and the voluntary sector can be indemnified against that increase?

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, the noble Lord made several points. As soon as it is safe to do so the Government are committed to reducing interest rates, which it has been necessary to raise in order to combat inflation. This Government believe in home ownership. Their policy of the right to buy which has led to the sale of 1.5 million council houses has 645 been overwhelmingly endorsed by the British people. Not even the party opposite now officially opposes the policy. In the past 10 years 3.6 million more dwellings have entered owner occupation and the proportion of owner-occupied stock has risen from 55 per cent. to 66 per cent. Thanks to government policy millions more people in this country have been given a stake in society.

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, I am familiar with supplementary questions being wide of the original Question but this is the first time that I have heard a supplementary answer being wide of the original Question.

§ The Lord Bishop of Southwark
My Lords, in view of the important statement which the noble Lord has just made about the place of housing associations, can he confirm whether it is true that in the past six months or so it has been extraordinarily difficult for the Housing Corporation to authorise new schemes because of the difficulty of finding a satisfactory solution to the problem of mixed funding at a time of high interest rates? Can he confirm whether it will be possible to alleviate that problem which is the clue to getting more starts made on the housing association side?

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, the tenants' guarantee issued by the Housing Corporation requires housing associations to set and maintain their rents within the reach of those in low paid employment. Failure to comply with the tenants' guarantee can be taken as evidence of lack of proper management of the association.

The Earl of Halsbury
My Lords, does the noble Lord agree that we are in danger of a dialogue of the deaf in that whatever authority has the power to declare a house unfit for human habitation is not in real communication with whatever authority has the power to provide finance to replace it?

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, I am not quite sure that I follow the noble Earl's question. I wonder whether he would like to put his question again.

§ Lord Tordoff
My Lords, I wonder whether the noble Lord will consider writing to the right reverend Prelate, after looking at the Official Report tomorrow, because it seems to me at least that the answer given by the noble Lord bore very little relation to the question.

§ Lord Reay
My Lords, I shall look at Hansard, and if that is the case I shall be happy to follow that recommendation.