---

Housing and Regeneration Bill

Let me address that point, which relates to the central point of the debate, about what system we should use to finance council housing. Let me put the debate in the context of the Bill. Clause 297 will enable us to exclude specified properties within a council from the housing revenue account subsidy system. We intend to use that power to allow councils to apply to exclude new homes that they build from being added to the housing revenue account. That will create an incentive among councils to build new homes by giving them more income from such properties. That issue seems to have cross-party consensus. As a former borough councillor, somebody who was proud to serve on my local authority, I think that councils have a range of roles with regard to housing. One is key: place shaping. Councils know what is needed in their areas and provide strategic housing assessments to determine the type of houses required and where they should be. They also have a direct delivery role. I am excited that the Bill, in conjunction with other things such as the housing revenue account review that, as Minister for Housing, my right hon. Friend the Member for Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) announced in December, will move us into an exciting new era, in which we look fundamentally at how we finance council housing and, crucially, make sure that councils have that direct delivery role. I am proud to stand at this Dispatch Box and say that this is the return of the council house. I hope that the hon. Member for Chesterfield (Paul Holmes) will agree.