---

Planning and Energy Bill

I take my hon. Friend's point. I have had personal experience of that problem. The issue of conversion is the same as that of renovation. It applies not only to flats but to bedsits and to the way that properties are broken down into smaller and smaller units. That may lead us into different arguments about the threshold for the number of flats in social housing and to the consequences of the 50 per cent. rule, but I accept that that is not a debate for today. The building regulations as a whole provide a basic safety net. The bottom line is that the regulations with which every building has to comply would also apply to conversions and, I think, to renovations. People could say to a local authority, ““Look here, you've got this problem in your area, it's a general issue, and you can do something about it for the people in your area if you wish.”” It has to be done reasonably, and subsequent new clauses that I have tabled would require proper consultation, but my hon. Friend has hit on an important point. We have to do something to improve living standards through insulation, not just in terms of heating and noise, but by dealing with the impact on people's general well-being. Such problems can be very disturbing. We have all had people in our constituency bring cases of noise problems to us, which can be dealt with by proper insulation, just as heating and energy issues can be. I am sure that we all have half a dozen or more of those cases on the go at any one time. People make complaints about their neighbours that could be dealt with by decent insulation.