Housing and Regeneration Bill

moved Amendment No. 1: 1: Schedule 1, page 148, line 5, leave out sub-paragraph (1) The noble Earl said: I remind the Committee of my declarations of interest at Second Reading. The amendment would remove paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 1. That may be a little drastic, but I assure the Committee that it is a probing amendment aimed at provoking discussion on the composition of the board of the HCA. The Government have set the HCA the target of contributing to the delivery of 3 million new homes by 2020. That represents a building rate of 250,000 homes per annum, of which 70,000 homes per annum will be social, affordable housing. It is an ambitious task—some would say that it is overoptimistic, even unachievable. I know that there was much debate in the other place about whether these targets would be met. I do not want to go down that road: we are where we are. During the past 11 years, in the period of a property boom, only 145,000 new homes per year were built on average. Many noble Lords commented at Second Reading that those in the building industry will not build any new homes because they cannot sell those they have already built. For them, this makes sound commercial sense. The credit crunch has knocked out demand for the purchase of property. The prospects for new build are bleak, at least for the next two or three years. Even today, chartered surveyors have announced that the housing market has not looked so negative for 30 years. So the HCA has a huge problem. But it should look at this not as a problem but as a challenge. If there is no demand for open-market housing, where is there demand? There is undoubtedly demand for affordable social housing. Eleven years ago, 1 million people were on the waiting list. Last year, the figure had risen to 1.7 million, and it continues to rise. Those who face repossession of their homes—an estimated 45,000 people this year and goodness knows how many next—will need rehousing. And now first-time buyers cannot get a mortgage. Last year, there were only 300,000 first-time buyers, representing the lowest number for many years—I have heard that it may be 25 years, but that may be an exaggeration. At Second Reading, I suggested that the figure for applicants on the waiting list may be closer to 2 million, but even that may be a low estimate. Last Friday, when I visited my dentist, the receptionist was talking to a lady about how her son, who was divorced, had had to move into her spare room with his son. The other lady said that her daughter and child were sleeping on her sofa. I could not resist asking, ““Are they on the waiting list?””. They both said, ““No, they need housing now, not in 10 years’ time. What’s the point?””. There must be thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people like that. So my estimate of 2 million on the waiting list may be far too low. The demand for social housing is there and the challenge for the HCA is how to supply and satisfy that demand. Many landlords and councils up and down the country have devised schemes to develop social housing, but they often come up against barriers to delivery. Perhaps I can cite one or two examples. My neighbour in Norfolk wanted to convert redundant farm buildings into five social housing units, but permission was denied as they were just outside the village boundary. There are barriers preventing councils which transferred their housing stock to housing associations providing further meaningful social housing—I think there is a limit of only 50. Seventy-five per cent of the proceeds from buy-to-let are removed by the Government, thus starving councils of the means to build more social housing. There are many other barriers—I have merely highlighted two or three. I make no apologies for labouring the current state of the market, but it is vital that the board of the HCA continually undertakes this soul-searching about where to concentrate its endeavours. This brings me to the composition of the HCA board. Board members will need to think outside the box, to be flexible, to look at all the options and, above all, at the market conditions prevailing at the time. How will they deliver and what rules need changing to ensure delivery? It is not about words, promises and targets; it is about delivery. To build houses one obviously needs landowners—private, council or developers—housebuilders, planning permission and, above all, money. I do not wish to be prescriptive on the face of the Bill about the composition of the board, but I would like to throw in a few ideas. There needs to be representation on the board from those organisations which operate at the coal face. Should there be representation from the local government associations as owners of land, providers, or would-be providers, of social housing and in relation to planning issues? What about the Home Builders Federation in relation to owners of land and builders of these new houses? What about the Country Landowners’ Association which represents private landowners? If the initial concentration of effort is to be on social housing, what about the National Housing Federation or ALMOs? Other Members of the Committee may have other suggestions: for example, on regeneration, creating communities and sustainable development. I would also like to see a champion for rural housing represented on the board. All too often rural housing has been an afterthought and it needs someone on the board to fight its corner. The composition of the board needs to reflect the challenges and demands in the market at any given time. As market conditions and demand change, so too should the composition of the board to reflect those changes. That can be done by adding to the board at a later date. As the Bill stands, the board will be made up of members, "““as the Secretary of State may from time to time appoint””." That immediately raises a flag in my mind. The challenges will not be met through yes men, nodding approval to any Government’s whim. The board must have broad and balanced representation from those organisations involved in front-line delivery. It needs members who can identify the problems and unlock the doors. I look forward to hearing the thoughts of the Minister’s and other noble Lords on the composition of the HCA. I beg to move.