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Planning and Energy Bill

It is not an either/or situation. The fact is that the original wording will stay; new clause 8 is a supplement, not an alternative, to clause 1. Clause 1 sets out what a local authority may require developers to do; new clause 8 says that the local authority, in using its discretion to set the new requirement, ought to bear in mind the costs—to the consumer, the house builder and the wider society through the impact of a possible reduction in affordable homes—of doing so. We can have both wordings. All I am saying is that local authorities should set the requirement with its eyes open, and in such a way that local people are aware of the consequences. That would ensure democratic accountability. Earlier, I mentioned the problems of fuel poverty. I will not go through the costs of energy for the consumer in detail again; I simply remind the House that 2 million UK households are in fuel poverty. If the consequence of this policy is that their fuel bills will increase by £20 a week—potentially by more, given increasing energy costs—that will do nothing to alleviate fuel poverty. It will simply make it worse. We have to take that factor into account. By imposing these new requirements, the hon. Member for Sevenoaks could reduce the cost of energy to people in fuel poverty, so that is an argument in his favour. Ultimately, however, we have to consider the impact on housing supply. In my constituency, we have some 13,800 families in desperate need on our waiting list—the fourth highest figure in London. That includes nearly 2,500 families in temporary accommodation looking for transfer. Last year, Barnet, to its shame, provided only 666 new homes, of which only 58 were for rent and eight for intermediate sale—only 10 per cent., the worst record in the whole of London except the City, which is a special case.