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Affordable Housing

There is clearly a separate but significant problem in London, some aspects of which have already emerged. There are more households than homes. In some areas, second homes are a problem. Indeed, most Members in the Chamber probably have a second home in London, which, to some extent, contributes to the problem. Clearly, we need more social housing in London. I do not want to enter into a debate about the proportion, but I readily agree that we need more social housing, including a significant fraction in London. Moving on to the broader issue, there are not enough homes for families to live in. The number of households created every year exceeds the number of homes being built by 10,000 to 30,000. The balance of the figures might change slightly, but there is clearly a problem. The Select Committee report predicts that the gap will widen, and that the issues that need to be addressed will become more serious. Reference has already been made to tackling the issue of empty homes. I welcome the legislation that the Government have introduced to improve empty homes management, but I note that there are still almost 700,000 empty homes in this country. A significant fraction of those empty homes are in London and the south-east, and a significant fraction of them have been vacant for more than six months. There is more to be done, and the rate at which empty homes are being brought back into use is far below what could and should be achieved.