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Rented Housing

I have not been told that by an RSL, but it would be interesting to know how much money has been allocated and whether the Minister is aware of any problems in accessing it. I am sure that it is not the Government's intention that it should sit in the Treasury's coffers, but if there are obstacles, they should be dealt with quickly. It would be a disaster if properties were empty and families were without adequate housing, and we could not put the two together when the money was available. Section 106 funding will continue to provide a lot of social rented housing. I have been critical of my council in Sheffield for being far too slow in changing its planning policies to reflect the need for section 106 agreements to provide social rented housing as part of new private sector housing developments. The horrible irony is that just as the council changed its policies to require a greater percentage of social housing on private developments, the credit crunch came along and builders stopped building new private houses. That is sad. The Government should recognise that in the longer term when the housing market is back in gear, section 106 agreements will provide quite a lot of social housing. They should say to local authorities, ““Do you, as part of your planning policies, have section 106 agreements clearly labelled as something you intend to use when you give planning permission for private houses?”” How can good practice be exchanged between one local authority and another? One thing about 106 agreements is absolutely obvious, and when we went around the country and collected evidence it was there for everyone to see. There is an enormous disparity in local authorities' achievements and policies on section106 agreements.