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Housing Corporation (Delegation) etc. Bill

I note my hon. Friend’s point. I admire his desire to lessen the burden of legislation that the House has to deal with and not to breach the principle of resisting retrospective legislation. However, according to the best legal advice obtained by housing associations, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Housing Corporation, the Bill is necessary. It would be foolish for us to counterpoint our wisdom against the legal advice that all those bodies have received. It is important to ensure that we do not introduce additional risk into the lending process, potentially jeopardising the security and buoyancy of housing associations. By passing the Bill, we will demonstrate our support for the work that housing associations do. They are innovative social enterprises—the best certainly are—and, I may say that their role and functions were considerably enhanced by the last Conservative Government. That is why it is such a personal pleasure for me to see one of the innovative Housing Ministers of the last Conservative Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for North-West Hampshire (Sir George Young), in his place. By passing the Bill, we will underpin the smooth functioning of a market that helps to provide a social good—housing—to many of those in our society who are in greatest need. Not to pass it would jeopardise practical goods and undermine compassionate Conservative achievements. It would mark a backward step.