Clause 35
Housing and Regeneration Bill
9:00 am
Iain Wright (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government; Hartlepool, Labour)
Good morning Mr. Benton, it is good to see you back in the Chair. May I wish a good morning to all members of the Committee.
I realise that this is not a clause stand part debate, but I shall briefly set out the background. Clause 35 is needed as a result of the split of the |Housing Corporation’s regulatory and investment functions. Therefore it requires that this new investment body, the Homes and Communities Agency, takes steps to ensure that low-cost rental accommodation provided as a result of its activities is adequately regulated.
While we would normally expect the agency to provide low-cost rental accommodation indirectly—a debate that we have had already during the course of the Committee’s deliberations—in the ways described in clause 35(3), (5) and (7) the agency will be able to provide low-cost rental accommodation directly. Amendment No. 109 relates to this direct provision by the agency. It makes it clear that, when the acquisition, construction or conversion activity by the HCA is intended to result in low-cost rental accommodation, the agency must ensure that a relevant provider of low-cost rental accommodation is the landlord when it is made available for rent.