My Lords, I have four brief points. I apologise to the Committee for failing to remind your Lordships of my interest as a residential landlord. I should have done so earlier; it is in the register of interests.
I agree that it is an important principle to cultivate people’s independence as far as one can; it is an important consideration to keep in mind. However, there are clearly others here; I am worried about the impact on the market as well. I visited private accommodation in Redbridge in London with a health visitor and I was struck by the appalling quality of much of what was provided to families. My concern is that if one shrinks the market, those who find it hard to let to the general public may continue renting out to those on benefits. Once you make it as attractive as possible to landlords to provide accommodation to people on benefits, they are perhaps more likely to invest in their accommodation to gain such clients. I saw a lavatory and shower arrangement combined in one place, damp walls and landlords who clearly failed entirely to take proper care of the accommodation they were providing. That is a concern.
I am also worried about families where there is an addiction to alcohol, gambling or drugs. Money may be spent on those habits and their children will be without a home because of that. If any money is saved through this particular methodology I would, of course, welcome it and hope that it might provide an opportunity to meet some of the concerns we have elsewhere in the Bill. We could perhaps cope with the vulnerable groups about which we are concerned but for which there simply does not seem to be the money available to help.
I would appreciate a reminder of where the Government are going with bed and breakfast accommodation for families. The previous Government put a lot of work into taking families out of bed and breakfast accommodation. I dare say that Crisis, or some organisation like that, might write to me with a reminder of the situation. However, if the Minister has time, I would appreciate a reminder of where the Government are moving with that now. I look forward to the Minister’s response.
Welfare Reform Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Earl of Listowel
(Crossbench)
in the House of Lords on Thursday, 20 October 2011.
It occurred during Debate on bills
and
Committee proceeding on Welfare Reform Bill.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
731 c166-7GC 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords Grand Committee
Subjects
Librarians' tools
Timestamp
2023-12-15 21:02:44 +0000
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