Housing

Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 2:59 pm on 29 October 2003.

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Photo of Mr Matthew Green Mr Matthew Green Liberal Democrat, Ludlow 2:59, 29 October 2003

I, too, congratulate Ms Keeble on having secured the debate. It is very timely in view of the forthcoming housing Bill, which will, as has been said, present a good opportunity to make changes.

I shall avoid covering much of the ground that the hon. Members for Regent's Park and Kensington, North (Ms Buck), for Edmonton (Mr. Love), for St. Albans (Mr. Pollard) and for Bethnal Green and Bow (Ms King) have covered, because they have given excellent examples from their constituencies. I cannot do that: while we have a severe shortage of affordable housing in Ludlow, overcrowding is not as great a problem as it is in London. Let us consider the extent of it. About 500,000 households in the United Kingdom would be regarded as overcrowded if we adopted the bedroom standard. That is a significant number; it is about 3 per cent. of all households in the UK. In London, the figure is about 6 per cent. As we heard from the hon. Member for Bethnal Green and Bow, the percentage is much higher among ethnic minorities. I understand that, by that definition, up to 30 per cent. of Bangladeshi households would be overcrowded. None of us can regard that as acceptable in the 21st century.

We have heard, rightly, about the effects of overcrowding, particularly those on health. The transmission of respiratory and infectious diseases and the increase in mortality and death rates are closely related to overcrowding. It is always connected with the spread of infectious diseases, either through the air or by physical contact. Measles, mumps, chicken pox, diphtheria and most respiratory conditions are more easily spread in overcrowded conditions, as are those that are spread by physical contact such as scabies. Longitudinal studies show that overcrowded housing dramatically increases the odds that young children will develop severe ill health in later life.

We know, too, about the emotional effect on families. There is good evidence that it causes developmental delays in babies and young children. The stress of sharing bedrooms leads to tension and an increase in the breakdown of family relationships. That can result in an increase in homelessness among the teenage children of families in overcrowded homes. Overcrowding contributes to homelessness; it does not compete with it. It also has a large impact on education. If children do not have quiet space in which to do homework and their sleep is often interrupted, they are less able to concentrate at school. They then perform badly, and have behavioural problems. Consequently, their educational attainment suffers by comparison with that of children who are not from overcrowded homes.

The problem is clear, well known and well documented, and it is growing. Why has it reached this point? Overcrowding was, by most measures, in decline until the early 1990s. It is linked to a reduction in the availability of affordable housing of all types, which happened because the right-to-buy policy decimated the council housing stock and also, where there were preserved rights, that of registered social landlords. Perhaps more worryingly for the Government, the number of new social houses built has declined since 1997. The housing and planning research centre estimates that between 83,000 and 99,000 affordable homes need to be built every year in order to meet demand. Even if we add together Housing Corporation-approved development grant, the effect of the transitional arrangement on the local authority social housing grant and houses from planning gain, about 50,000 homes will be built in the next 12 months, which will meet half of the estimated need. The shortfall will be at least 33,000 homes and will probably be more like 50,000 homes.

Those are the problems. What are their solutions? All hon. Members who have spoken have rightly said that the housing Bill is an excellent opportunity to introduce a modern statutory definition of overcrowding such as that outlined in the Bill introduced by the hon. Member for Edmonton. If I have the privilege of serving on the Committee that considers the housing Bill, I will try to ensure that such a definition is brought forward.

I understand that Ministers have some difficulties with a new definition. The Minister for Housing and Planning has said that the definition cannot be modernised in the housing Bill because such matters

"cannot be raised in isolation from other factors. Some of the current proposals would have the effect of imposing a quite unrealistic demand on the resources of the local authorities and diverting them from the excellent decent homes programme and their responsibilities to homeless families, who often live in far worse conditions than overcrowded households."—[Hansard, 22 October 2003; Vol. 411, c. 631.]

I have some sympathy with his views.

There is a way to deal with the problem. We could put a definition in the Bill with a sunrise clause stating the number of years before the new standard is implemented, which would give the Government breathing space in which to commit extra resources or to deliver extra affordable homes to allow the standard's introduction not to cause perverse effects. No one in the Chamber wants a new definition to cause perverse effects.

If the Minister for Housing and Planning is arguing that the definition should not be included in the Bill because it will immediately cause perverse effects, a sunrise clause is a possible solution that he should examine seriously.