Housing Benefit

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 1:15 pm on 17 October 2002.

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Photo of Andrew Smith Andrew Smith The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 1:15, 17 October 2002

I echo my hon. Friend's comments about the performance of her local authority. As well as castigating those that do poorly, it is important to praise those that make a difficult system work effectively.

The reference rent will be set on the basis of the present system, disregarding outliers and taking an intermediate level between the highest and lowest rents in the area. By putting the money in the hands of the tenants and, as I said, by removing the perverse incentive for corrupt landlords to collude with tenants in raising rents, it is likely that the reform will exercise some downward pressure on rents. That will help, although I do not want to overemphasise the effect.