New Clause 18 - New form of short term tenure for councils (short social tenancy)
Homes Bill
4:33 pm
Mr Nick Raynsford (Minister of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions; Greenwich and Woolwich, Labour)
The right hon. Member for Skipton and Ripon, who was formerly a Housing Minister, has much experience in the matter. His proposal is most interesting, and follows lines that we are considering. It was one of the recommendations of the policy action team investigating the problem of unpopular housing and, as the right hon. Gentleman said, it was proposed in the Green Paper on housing, which received a positive response in consultation.
The provision would, in defined circumstances, enable a local housing authority to make an allocation that is not a secure tenancy. For example, that might be appropriate where house prices were not affordable to modestly paid key workers, who could be offered a short-term tenancy to enable them to save for a deposit or to establish roots in the area prior to buying a house. It would be possible, too, for similar arrangements to be used as a weapon in low-demand areas where there is unpopular housing. An authority might want to offer short-term tenancies in anticipation of the eventual redevelopment of an area, or to attract to a locality people who would not normally live there but who would bring greater economic prosperity.
As the right hon. Gentleman correctly anticipated, we are attracted to the principles underlying the proposal but we cannot accept it as it would add to the existing complexity of the tenure structure. We do not want to do that without considering the full panoply of housing legislation that relates to tenancies in the public sector and those that affect registered social and other landlords. The hon. Member for Eastbourne is not enamoured of the word ``holistic'' so I shall say that the issue must be considered in the round.
It may be possible to bring together the principal tenancies offered by registered social landlords and local authorities into a single tenure for the social housing sector. It would be sensible to do that as a considered and comprehensive package, rather than by introducing one step now and having to make subsequent alterations and amendments.
The proposal is welcome and we support its intention. We will further consider how it can be advanced in the context of other tenures to ensure that the right, long-term mix of tenures is available. On that basis, I hope that the right hon. Gentleman will withdraw the new clause.