Mr Charles Key: I should like to draw the attention of the Committee to the Amendment on the Notice Paper in my name and in that of my hon. Friend the Member for Fu/ham (Mr. M. Stewart) which is designed to increase the number of representatives on the Greater London Council for Poplar, Stepney and Bethnal Green from two to three. It will be remembered that on Second Reading the Minister said that the...
Mr Charles Key: The Minister's calculations bear out what he says with regard to the people in borough No. 1. They also bear out my calculation with regard to the number of people in borough No. 5. The numbers given by the Minister were higher than the number. In my case, they were below the number.
Mr Charles Key: On a point of order. Are we not to be allowed, Sir William, to vote upon the Amendment standing in my name, in page 88, line 21, column 3, to leave out "2" and to insert "3"?
Mr Charles Key: Will the hon. Member now give the figures of the number of men in the building industry employed in war damage repairs in the years immediately after the war, compared with those in recent years?
Mr Charles Key: I want the hon. Member to face this problem. The problem with which we are dealing is that of building houses, and the building of houses depends upon the number of men available for it. If more than one out of every two in the building industry are engaged in war damage repairs, then the men are not available to build new houses. That explains the figures for the years of the Labour...
Mr Charles Key: It did not do so in the case of Poplar.
Mr Charles Key: What did he say?
Mr Charles Key: I have been requested by the citizens of Poplar to seek your permission, Mr. Speaker, to present a Petition against the Rent Bill. They claim that, suffering from a very severe shortage of housing accommodation in their area, if the Bill becomes operative, many of them, having lost security of tenure, will have to pay very high uncontrolled rents because no alternative accommodation will be...
Mr Charles Key: I beg to move, in page 2, line 33 to leave out "three" and to insert "nine". I think that it would be convenient, Mr. Speaker, to consider with this Amendment the Amendment in line 36, leave out "nine" and insert "fifteen".
Mr Charles Key: I find that the more people who learn what the Bill will do for them when it becomes law, the greater is their fear of the effect it will have upon them and their families. They feel that there is much that they will have to do in order to adapt themselves to the conditions which the Bill will create for them. 6.45 p.m. For many of those whom I have met the increase in rent will be very...
Mr Charles Key: As one who has been engaged in London local government for nearly forty years, I have to admit that the present state of local government finance requires an alteration which is long overdue. I shall not deny that under present conditions small shopkeepers may have a grievance, but the suggestion that that grievance should be dealt with by amalgamating shopkeepers with all sorts of other...
Mr Charles Key: The right hon. Gentleman picked out that one.
Mr Charles Key: I shall not detain the House for many minutes. My only intention is to put on record the effect of the Bill upon a large number of my constituents. The area which I represent is one of the poorest and worst housed areas in the East End of London, and 98 per cent. of its houses will remain controlled after the Bill becomes an Act. Only 2 per cent. of the houses there, just over 200, have a...
Mr Charles Key: I shall come to the question of the rents of council houses a little later.
Mr Charles Key: The hon. Gentleman may wonder. I will now deal with the average of the cases provided for me by the official of the local authority. The average gross value is £36, the average rateable value £25, the average net rent 14s. lld., and, if the Bill becomes law, the average net rent, the landlords being responsible for general repairs only and not interior decorations, will be £1 9s. 11d....
Mr Charles Key: Everyone pays Income Tax, including the poor devil living in the house.
Mr Charles Key: The landlord will get an increase from £15 to £55 on that house as a result of the carrying out of the provisions of the Bill. Let me take the average of a dozen cases given to me. The average gross value is £36, the rateable value £25, the net rent 14s. lid. and the annual income £38 15s. 8d. If we take the statutory deduction at £11, it gives a pocket balance of £27 15s. 8d. Under...
Mr Charles Key: I beg to second the Amendment.
Mr Charles Key: Did not the Minister say, when dealing with this matter during the Committee stage, that it was his hope that they would provide—and I quote— …at least as many council houses for this purpose as they have done in the past. I believe that many of them will increase the number as the building programme advances."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, Standing Committee A,3rd March, 1955; col. 44.]
Mr Charles Key: Will not the Minister agree that the Act says that local authorities will get assistance towards the leasing of houses only for a period of 10 years after the requisitioning comes to an end?