Clause 22 - Events which cause the duty to cease
Homes Bill
4:30 pm
Ms Oona King (Bethnal Green and Bow, Labour)
I congratulate this Committee on perhaps being the most compassionate that I have ever come across, issuing more congratulations and condolences than any other that I have served on thus far.
While I would not want to press the amendment to a vote, I would wish to press the Minister to reconsider the issue. In my own local authority of Tower Hamlets, we have a 24-hour deadline for homeless people. As we have heard, homeless households are among the most vulnerable, and often constituents turn down offers because they have only 24 hours to make a decision, and they are unable to get the advice that they need or be reassured that repairs that need to be done to the properties will be carried out.
One constituent told me that, when he went round to view a property, the body of the previous tenant had only been moved out an hour earlier, and it was on that basis that he rejected it as unsuitable. One can understand the problems that might arise with such haste. While I am concerned about meeting our targets for reducing the numbers of voids, we also have to try to meet our stated aims of increasing choice for homeless people and not having a policy that works through coercion, for want of a better word. If homeless families are to have only one offer, as is the case in Tower Hamlets, they should at least be able to seek better advice.
Shelter's research has shown that 76 per cent. of homeless families are lone parents, and I have many women coming to my surgery saying that they have turned down an offer as being unsuitable because they think it is wrong to have to step over a heroin addict to get to the lift. I have to explain to them that that does not come within the law but, if they are unable to get advice, they cannot make an informed decision. I do not wish to detain the Committee but we do need to look towards having a system that allows informed consent instead of the rush job that many homeless families have to deal with at the moment.