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Housing and Regeneration Bill

This is the first time that I have sparred over the Dispatch Box with the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson). I welcome him to the Front Bench and wish him well in his new role. There has been a huge debate on the first group of amendments. Let me start at the beginning, which seems a long time ago, with new clause 9, tabled by the right hon. Member for North-West Hampshire (Sir George Young). He will recall that we had an interesting debate on a similar topic in Committee in January. I am pleased that it has been raised again, so that I have the opportunity to update the House on our progress since then and my plans for moving matters forward. In responding to the amendments and the other points that have been raised, I am conscious of the need to address incredibly important points in other parts of the Bill, so I will seek to achieve a balance between responding to the comments of hon. Members and making progress with the Bill. New clause 9 does two things. First, it prevents registered social landlords from ever—I stress the word ever—using ground 8 in possession proceedings. Secondly, it provides that a court should not grant possession to any landlord under ground 8 if any of the arrears arose as a result of delays or failures in housing benefit payments, unless it considers that it is reasonable to do so. The Government have already made it clear that for registered social landlords eviction should be used only as a last resort in rent arrears cases, particularly—I stressed this in Committee—where the arrears have occurred as a result of delays in housing benefit payments. Good practice guidance published in June 2005 on improving the effectiveness of rent arrears management included advice and best practice on early intervention policies and proactive approaches. The Housing Corporation also issued housing management guidance in early 2007 which stated:"““Possession proceedings for rent arrears should not be started against a tenant that can demonstrate they have a reasonable expectation of eligibility for housing benefit; provided the local authority with all the evidence required to process a housing benefit claim; and paid required personal contributions towards the charge.””" A pre-action protocol for rent arrears has also been established as part of the civil procedures rules, with the aim of ensuring that eviction is the last resort for all landlords in rent arrears cases. The protocol sets out various measures that social landlords must take before starting possession proceedings on the basis of rent arrears. However, both in Committee and on the Floor of the House today, the right hon. Gentleman made a strong case, and I recognise that there remain concerns about the actions of a small minority of RSLs and other private sector landlords. I am keen to ensure that those are resolved. I have therefore asked my officials to convene a working group meeting with the key stakeholders, including Shelter, Citizens Advice, the National Housing Federation, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Housing Corporation to examine those concerns and report back to me by summer, recommending options for a way forward. In light of the regulatory framework that we are putting in place, I am particularly interested in the role that Oftenant could play in addressing the problem for the registered social landlord sector. The reformed system of regulation, which will give a stronger voice to tenants to bring issues of concern to the regulator and a more targeted system of regulatory action, seems a good approach to dealing with the matter. In addition, as I stated in Committee, the private rented sector review being led by Julie Rugg of the university of York will look at the issue in relation to the private sector. The review is due to be published in October this year. Given my commitment, I hope that the right hon. Gentleman will withdraw the motion. I turn to the central element of today's debate—new clause 8, to which my hon. Friend the Member for Great Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell) spoke so excellently. I shall deal with the narrow point, then go on to the wider point, the financing of council housing, which is the subject of the debate. With the greatest respect to my hon. Friend and to my right hon. Friend the Member for Oldham, West and Royton (Mr. Meacher) and my hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell), who reiterated many of the points that they made on Second Reading, new clause 8 would have no impact on the way that the Secretary of State carries out her existing statutory duties. In that respect it is unnecessary. New clause 8 would require the Secretary of State to take certain matters into account when determining what subsidy to give to local authorities to support their housing revenue accounts. In particular, it would require her to consider the resources needed to meet the decent homes standard and the need for affordable housing. But the Secretary of State is already required by public law to act reasonably in making the annual subsidy determination and to take into account all relevant considerations. Those considerations would include both housing needs and the resources available.