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Affordable Housing

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his inquiry. We have some answers to those questions. If one puts together the different points made by the Select Committee, it is clear that the major area of expansion for new homes needs to be in the social housing area, not to suppress what is done in the private sector, but to restore what is done in the social sector. As the report states, the level of house building in the private sector has, broadly speaking, been the same over the past 10 years. The problem has been the shortage of social housing. That is clearly an area that needs further Government attention. Significant measures need to be taken to make our housing stock more sustainable, at a time when it contributes 27 per cent. of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. I hope that the Minister will be able to give us credible reasons why the Thames Gateway is not required to be wholly sustainable, why the decent homes standard need not have a sustainability requirement built into it, and why the code for sustainable homes is so weak and feeble. The report refers to the need for building regulations to be upgraded to address those points. This is probably the fourth or fifth time that we have debated this, and I would be interested if the Minister told us what approach the Government plan to take on the Sustainable and Secure Buildings Act 2004, which gives them some of those powers. Having referred to the economic and environmental sustainability of the housing market and the housing sector, I want to say a few words about social sustainability. In expanding housing development, we must not bring back the housing-only estates that were the plague of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s; instead, we must build sustainable communities that incorporate not only public transport but employment, education and public service access. It is important not to recreate the difficulties and problems of previous generations. In some parts of the country, the problem of second homes is grievous; some of my hon. Friends feel that greatly. Equally, in other areas there is poor demand, which the pathfinder measures are designed to solve. It is a complex situation. Even in the north-west, we have pathfinder projects less than 40 miles from places where excessive demand for second homes is squeezing out local populations. Housing is not a liquid market, and it is not easy to match demand and supply, even over a very small area. In producing this report, the Select Committee has done the House and the Government a service by analysing the problem and providing a critique of current policies. I look forward to hearing the Government’s response.