Clause 8 - Review of decisions as to suitability of accommodation
Homelessness Bill
5:45 pm
Mr Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham, Conservative)
I wish to probe the Minister about the clause a little further. We are broadly in favour of the amendments that the Minister is proposing to make to the Bill. Anything that increases the choice and suitability of accommodation offered to tenants must be right, although the bottom line is that a choice-based system will amount to nothing unless choice is available. As the hon. Lady said—and as my hon. Friend the Member for South-West Bedfordshire recounted—there are horrendous cases of homelessness.
During the past three weeks, three such examples have been brought to my attention at my surgery, one of which concerned a female constituent who had attempted suicide. She had been allocated a flat on her own on the fourth floor of a council block, from which she had thrown herself within 24 hours. Fortunately, she was not killed, but she was badly injured. Such accommodation was obviously not suitable for someone who was receiving mental treatment. Several cases have been brought to my attention involving housing blocks that were riddled with damp. One concerned a family with children who have serious asthma problems and who had been moved into a damp flat. Subsequently, one of the children had visited hospital three times with asthma-related problems that were exacerbated by the dampness.
Another more familiar problem concerns the suitability of bed-and-breakfast accommodation, which in many cases is all that is on offer. One constituency case involved a mother who suffered from a complicated medical condition. Her husband was desperately looking for work, but the only work that he had been offered involved night security. The family were unable to be in the bed-and-breakfast accommodation during the day—the terms of most bed-and-breakfast accommodation—as a result of which the husband was unable to sleep. The wife's medical condition made it highly undesirable for her to share bathroom facilities with other families. The family had been offered bed-and-breakfast accommodation some miles away from the school that the children attended and they had already been through a disruptive cycle because they had moved from their base. All such cases highlight the unsuitability of accommodation that may be offered.
How will the review system work? Realistically, on requesting a review, can the Minister maintain that the case will not be prejudiced under the new system? I am referring to ``heavy-handed'' treatment from a housing officer who may suggest that, if a person applies for a review, it will prejudice their chances of receiving a decent property within the terms of the discretion available to various housing officers. I am not saying that that would be a deliberate ploy, but given the desperate circumstances of many housing departments with a lack of available accommodation, it may come into it. Who will carry out such a review and how sure can a tenant be that it has been carried out properly, independently and objectively? If the review is upheld, what is the next stage? How will alternative accommodation be offered? That may turn out to be equally unsuitable. Where will the process end?
While welcoming the strengthening of tenants' rights that the clause is supposed to represent, we should like further information about how it will lead to the improvements to which the Minister referred?