Rachel Maclean: ...and introduce unlimited free movement of labour. Does the Home Secretary agree that pressure from migration puts pressure on local families and young people who want to buy or rent their own house, and will he consider that every time he grants more visas for people to come to this country?
Rachel Maclean: ...their purchase. This assessment is designed to establish the size of share that the applicant should purchase and to ensure that they have the financial resources necessary to meet their ongoing housing costs over the long term. Energy prices have come down 23% since their peak and the Government spent around £40 billion to cover around half a household's typical bill last...
Rachel Maclean: ...by people who wish to take part in local democracy without being excluded because of where they live, because they do not have a car or because of other barriers. This is important, and the whole House recognises those barriers and supports that admirable objective. We need our politics to be as inclusive as possible. However, I have also heard loud and clear the comments of my hon. Friend...
Rachel Maclean: ...it remains the Government’s policy to ensure that we identify and build on urban brownfield areas such as the ones she mentioned in Docklands, Beckton, Silvertown and elsewhere. We need to see housing delivered there. We have seen 30-year record highs in housing delivery under this Conservative Government, and we intend to continue delivering the right houses in the right places,...
Rachel Maclean: I beg to move, That this House disagrees with Lords amendment 22B.
Rachel Maclean: ...that the planning system must support our efforts in meeting our legal net-zero commitments by 2050 and tackling the risks of climate change. However, we have heard the strength of feeling in both Houses about making sure that national planning policy supports our efforts in tackling the risks of climate change. Therefore, the Government have now gone a step further in tabling an amendment...
Rachel Maclean: Under the Housing and Planning Act 2016, information from the database can only be disclosed in an anonymised form if no individual or other person to whom the information relates can be identified from the information. Information about the nature of offences, length of ban or value of fines may lead to the identification of individuals entered onto the database. The Database of Rogue...
Rachel Maclean: It is a huge pleasure to deliver the closing speech today on the Second Reading of the Government’s Renters (Reform) Bill, and I begin by thanking Members across the House for their valuable, thoughtful and knowledgeable contributions to the debate. I have enjoyed and noted the contributions from my hon. Friend the Member for Dover (Mrs Elphicke), the hon. Member for Sheffield South East...
Rachel Maclean: ...). It is right to say at this point that we are committed to honouring the manifesto commitment that we made in 2019 to create a private rented sector that works for everyone and to level up housing quality in this country. I am grateful to all hon. and right hon. Members who continue to engage constructively with us on the provisions in the Bill so that we can deliver the change needed to...
Rachel Maclean: ...standard has been raised again, and it is a key part of our reforms. We must make sure that the new system we introduce means people are living in decent, safe and warm homes. Everyone in this House will be under no illusion about how importantly this Government take this issue, as they can see the work that has been introduced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to tackle these...
Rachel Maclean: I want to wind up now, because I cannot detain the House any longer. I assure right hon. and hon. Members that we are focused on introducing this groundbreaking once-in-a-generation reform. I commend the Bill to the House. Question put and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time.
Rachel Maclean: ...in September would have unlocked 100,000 much needed homes while protecting and improving the environment. We were therefore disappointed that the reforms did not receive sufficient support in the House of Lords – perpetuating uncertainty and further delaying much needed homes. In line with the practice of successive administrations, legislation will be announced in the usual way.
Rachel Maclean: The department regularly engages with the Greater London Authority and the London Boroughs to maintain awareness of new housing stock across the city. All new housing stock is required to comply with building regulations. Details of external meetings are published on gov.uk.
Rachel Maclean: ...should ensure that sites in rural areas respect the scale of, and do not dominate, the nearest settled community, and avoid placing undue pressure on local infrastructure. Regarding other forms of housing, the National Planning Policy Framework states that planning policies and decisions should avoid the development of isolated homes in the countryside unless certain circumstances apply,...
Rachel Maclean: ...legislation of the time. It is important to set out that local areas must get their local plans in place, and I hope that his local area is doing so. That is the best way to ensure that it delivers houses that command the consent of his constituents, for whom he is advocating superbly. The Bill addresses the entrenched disparities that exist across the United Kingdom, backed by billions of...
Rachel Maclean: ...will consider carefully as the Bill completes its passage. The Government are on the side of the builders, communities and homeowners —present and future—across our country. I commend it to the House. Amendment (a) made to Lords amendment 117. Government amendments (b) to (d) made to Lords amendment 117. Lords amendment 117, as amended, agreed to.
Rachel Maclean: It is a pleasure to be able to respond to the points made by colleagues across the House. This is a complex and important Bill, and it has been a thoughtful and well set out debate; everyone has contributed. I thank colleagues across the House for their remarks. I can assure everyone that the Government have listened extremely carefully to those. Because I have limited time, I may not be able...
Rachel Maclean: I thank the Father of the House for those comments. I can assure him that the Government are carefully considering his points, and those made by other colleagues. I turn to rural-proofing and the vital role of rural areas—a point made by a number of colleagues, particularly my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham. He asked how we will make sure that we abide by our commitments to...
Rachel Maclean: I am not giving way. The Leader of the Opposition says that his is now the party of the yimbys. We all want housing for our own children and grandchildren—I am a mother of four; my second grandchild, Henry, was born just last night—so this Government stand squarely behind the aspiration of families across the country to buy a home of their own and get on the housing ladder. But what have...
Rachel Maclean: I will not give way. There is no credibility at all on the Labour Front Bench. You do not have to take my word for it; just look at housing delivery in London and in Wales, where Labour has been in government, with all the powers, funding and levers, for many years. It has an atrocious record on house building, housing delivery and affordable house building. It is hardly surprising, when...
