§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what initiatives he has taken during the last five years to revive the privately rented housing sector; what progress has been made as a result of these initiatives; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. BaldryA number of initiatives have been taken during the past five years to revive the private rented sector.
Deregulation measures in the Housing Act 1988 were brought forward to stem the decline in the quality and supply of private rented accommodation. Landlords are now able to let property under new assured and assured shorthold tenancies at market rents. The 1990 private renters survey show that the number of new tenancies let increased by 50,000–4 per cent.—between 1988 and 1990.
The extension of the business expansion scheme to companies letting properties on assured tenancies has been very successful. It is estimated that over £1,200 million has been raised so far, providing about 20,000 additional homes to rent.
Under our housing associations as managing agents scheme—HAMA—funding over three years is being made available through the Housing Corporation's promotional and advisory grant regime, for at least 30 HAMA teams to be set up and running throughout England beginning early next year. This follows a successful pilot scheme with five associations during this year. Under HAMA a housing association provides a full management service for the property, encouraging landlords into the market by removing much of the hassle involved with lettings, and assisting local authorities in providing a good-quality, cost-effective means of executing their responsibilities to the statutory homeless. Selected housing associations were invited to put forward proposals in October. The successful housing associations will be informed in January 1993.
Our flats over shops scheme attracted bids from 210 local authorities in England applying for resources totalling £41 million in the year 1992–93, of which 57 received supplementary credit approvals totalling £5,047,500. Monitoring is now underway and the invitations to bid for a share of the £10 million available for 1993–94 have recently been issued. The Housing Corporation also provides resources in this area through its social housing over shops programme.
The "rent a room" scheme will encourage people to take in lodgers. The scheme applies to both owner occupiers and tenants who let rooms in their only or main house. Under the scheme, gross rental income or up to £3,250 a year from 1 April will be exempt from income tax.