New Clause 18 - New form of short term tenure for councils (short social tenancy)
Homes Bill
4:00 pm
Mr David Curry (Skipton and Ripon, Conservative)
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
I was not aware that the new clause had been awaited with such breathless expectancy. I am overwhelmed by the enthusiasm for it. It is an important clause, which builds on an element of the 1996 legislation that I piloted through the House—the assured shorthold tenancy. It also builds on the Government's housing Green Paper and on the social exclusion unit's work on unpopular housing. I hope that we can establish at the beginning that the measure is designed to make use of housing that might otherwise not be used. It is also designed to assist in housing people and to contribute to the maintenance of neighbourhoods that would otherwise become run-down, leading to degeneration. Those are the purposes of the clause, and I emphasise that the housing that would be provided would be available to those who come under the social needs category.
Sitting suspended for a Division in the House.
On resuming—