Westminster Council: Housing Policy (Hansard, 31 October 1994)

§ The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Viscount Ullswater)
My Lords, each year the Department of the Environment issues guidance on the criteria and factors which Ministers will take into account when making housing investment programme allocations in England. The primary criterion is an assessment of the relative efficiency and effectiveness of housing authorities in each region and the factors affecting that assessment include the quality of local authorities' enabling role in relation to housing association activity. Guidance was most recently issued in May 1994 and a copy is in the Library.
Last year Westminster's performance in enabling housing associations to provide homes was considered to be well above average. This year's assessments will not be completed until shortly before Christmas.

§ Lord Dean of Beswick
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that Answer. I can assure the noble Viscount that my Question has nothing to do with the present inquiry that is going on under Mr. Magill regarding previous policy. However, the Minister will recall that on 20th October I asked him about the fact that the Government had withdrawn consent—according to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary in another place—in regard to certain facets of the Westminster City Council's home selling policy because it was reflecting on its capacity to deal with homeless people.
There are reports from responsible sources that during the period when Westminster council was deemed to be misbehaving the council was forcing that same policy on the housing associations as well. If consent has been withdrawn from Westminster council to continue with the exercise, can the Minister give an undertaking that 696 it has also been instructed or advised that its enabling powers should not be used to force housing associations to continue with the policy against their will?

§ Viscount Ullswater
My Lords, as I made clear on the last occasion, the general consent for sales under Section 32 of the Housing Act 1985 permits the disposal of any vacant house or flat. Selling housing may be a sensible way of meeting aspects of housing need. Many councils have done it; some of them Labour controlled. It is for each authority to decide whether to do that. As I indicated previously, the consents were renewed in September of this year.

§ Lord Dean of Beswick
My Lords, I am sorry that I have to rise to correct the Minister. I am not aware of any other authority that sold council houses to people who did not live in its city or borough. That was the objection to what Westminster City Council was doing and I am seeking to ensure that it is not continuing to do that. From all the evidence that was given it is quite clear that the houses which were being sold to non-residents—

Noble Lords
Question!

§ Lord Dean of Beswick
My Lords, the Minister must understand at least that the houses being sold to outsiders who did not live in the borough of Westminster were being sold at the expense of the council carrying out its duty to the homeless people in that borough.

§ Viscount Ullswater
My Lords, the Question relates to housing associations. I have to remind the noble Lord that they are independent, non-profit making organisations. The selling of council houses is from local authority stock.

§ Lord Dean of Beswick
My Lords, I am sorry to come back to the Question. The Minister referred to the enabling powers of Westminster City Council. I said that it was misusing those powers to inflict its policy on housing associations. Can the Minister give an absolute undertaking that that has not taken place?

§ Viscount Ullswater
My Lords, I can indicate that the Housing Corporation considers Westminster City Council to be an excellent enabler, using all opportunities available to assist housing associations by the use of discounts, local authority housing association grants and planning powers.

§ Lord Jenkins of Putney
My Lords, is the Minister aware that all his last answer does is to bring the Housing Corporation itself into disrepute?

§ Viscount Ullswater
My Lords, I cannot believe that many noble Lords will agree with the noble Lord. The work which the Housing Corporation has done over the years has been to provide a great many homes for homeless people at low rents, shared ownership and low costs. I believe that the corporation should be congratulated.