Welfare Reform Bill

I should start by reminding your Lordships of the context of this: the rapid growth in housing expenditure over the last decade, in cash terms from £11 billion to £22 billion—up 50 per cent in real terms. Our efforts here are to try and get control of that market place. We need to do more than what this amendment proposes to limit the growth in benefit expenditure on housing and avoid claimants being trapped on benefits by occupying housing that they could never afford in work. On the questions raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Hollis, effectively on whether housing benefit drives the market, the simple fact is that some 40 per cent of private sector tenants receive housing benefit. Effectively, we inject into that market some £8.8 billion each year. Clearly, the way that we do that inevitably has an impact on how that market behaves. I accept that it is a very complicated market and it is not a straightforward matter to influence. The noble Lord, Lord Best, essentially made that point on the complexity and the uncertainties involved in trying to get a market response. In some areas where local rents are particularly expensive, we will cap the maximum that private sector tenants can be paid for the housing element of universal credit. That will effectively ensure that claimants encounter the same choices about affordability as are available to working families. All noble Lords are aware that there is a fundamental issue here in the supply of housing. We announced in July both that 146 providers of affordable housing will deliver 80,000 new homes at affordable rent and also affordable home ownership with government funding of just under £1.8 billion. Shared ownership will be available where appropriate to local circumstances. The affordable housing statistics released earlier this month on 5 October showed the highest numbers of additional affordable homes being delivered over the past year since the mid-1990s. Our efforts to get Britain building again continue with a £4.5 billion affordable homes programme set to exceed expectations and deliver up to 170,000 new homes over the next four years, compared to the 150,000 originally estimated. The Government are creating the conditions to get the house-building industry building again. We recognise the particular challenges that first-time buyers face at the moment.