§ Baroness Hanhamasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in view of the complexity of the changes to be made under the rent restructuring proposals for local authorities together with the need for adequate consultation with tenants, they will delay implementation for 12 months. [HL1622]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonNo; rent restructuring is to start in April 2002. Local authorities have known since December 2000 what kind of changes would be required. We recognise that the computer systems used by some local authorties limit their ability to apply different rent changes to different properties next April. I am advising those authorities that for 2002–03 they should apply the average percentage rent change suggested in our restructuring proposals for their stock to all of their rents except where this might involve breaches of the RPI + 0.5 per cent + £2 limit, or the maximum rents announced in my Answer on 26 November,(Official Report, WA 10–12). The subsidy system will not penalise authorities for not implementing the reforms at an individual property level.