Housing: Long-term Plan

The hon. Gentleman makes the point that I made a moment or two ago, which is that the coalition’s...

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that although a discount in perpetuity is very attractive in theory, ...

The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point. In my part of the world, many of our homes are local-occup...

My hon. Friend is making a compelling argument. Does he agree that there is an ideological irony ...

That is a very interesting observation. Given that this will be counterproductive in terms of the...

The hon. Gentleman has been talking about fewer homes being built as a result of the change to th...

The idea that the income and borrowing of a housing association is reduced and it can then theref...

I have had conversations with housing associations in my constituency, two of which are merging. ...

The hon. Gentleman is basically saying, eloquently, that, despite the Government’s attack on hous...

May I update my hon. Friend on the conversation I had with a local housing association? It had pu...

My right hon. Friend makes a perfect point that is relevant to my experience in Cumbria. None of ...

I am sure the hon. Gentleman remembers as well as I do the days when parties stood for election w...

The hon. Gentleman makes a great point. Demand and supply are at the heart of our housing crisis....

On my hon. Friend’s point about giving councils greater borrowing powers—this also relates to his...

It rather plays into the pattern over the last nine months—since the coalition Government ended a...

Given that in my area of south Somerset, the council’s local plan has failed to deliver a five-ye...

The hon. Gentleman is talking about creating more garden towns, and it is important that we take ...

The hon. Gentleman is being most generous in giving way. He mentions how parties are opposing the...

I would be very interested to look at the detail of that. I am also keen to recognise that we hav...

I note the hon. Gentleman’s point about the long term. The lack of a local plan is a long-term is...

That is a staggering intervention from an hon. Lady who represents a constituency with one of the...

Once again, I thank an Opposition party—a different one this time—for choosing housing as the sub...

Will the Minister tell us how many social houses have been built in the time during which those d...

The right hon. Gentleman will appreciate that, as the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale sa...

The Minister just mentioned 2007. Is he aware that in 2007, under a Labour Government, housing as...

My hon. Friend makes a good point. To be fair to him, the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdal...

We are indeed proud of that record, and I thank the Minister for extolling it so beautifully. Doe...

On this occasion I am afraid I have to “disagree with Nick”. We are expanding Help to Buy, as I w...

The Minister talks about the many excellent things the Government are doing. The right hon. Membe...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point, particularly on the excellent Self-build and Custom House...

The Minister refers to housing associations and the National Housing Federation’s involvement in ...

It is a voluntary agreement. The Housing and Planning Bill does not legislate for that. It underp...

After this, I promise to leave the Minister alone for a while. Is he aware that one in three home...

With those kind words, I am happy for the hon. Gentleman to intervene, as it gives me an opportun...

The former Deputy Prime Minister has extolled the virtues of Help to Buy, which is fine, but ther...

My hon. Friend highlights an important point. What the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale s...

Before the Minister moves on, this issue riles a lot of us, as it riles him. The hon. Member for ...

It is always good to see the institutional money to which my hon. Friend refers investing in the ...

The Minister is generous in giving way. On the point about extra supply, he said—I do not quite k...

The point I was making was that in the first year’s sales of right to buy homes in the reinvigora...

Rubbish!

I am sorry the hon. Lady thinks giving that power to local people is rubbish. I think that local ...

I am pleased that the issue of housing has once more been brought to the Chamber. It seems to be ...

The hon. Lady mentions the social housing market, so would she like to explain why, in 2001-02, t...

When figures are quoted on social housing, it is often council housing that is being talked about...

I completely agree with the hon. Lady that trading statistics does not help. I have listened to a...

I could say a lot about that, but I would rather get on with the points I intended to raise, whic...

I do not think that you, Madam Deputy Speaker, have an opinion on this matter at all, but I share...

I imagine that the hon. Gentleman’s view is that not enough people self-build. What has happened ...

The hon. Lady might want to refresh her memory by looking at the Hansard for the Housing and Plan...

I thank the Minister for his intervention, but with Help to Buy and starter homes, many developer...

I wonder whether the hon. Lady, like me, is surprised that on Monday the Prime Minister—rightly, ...

There are three prisons in my constituency, and that issue worries me greatly.

Private rent...

The shadow Minister should be aware that when the Conservatives took over the North West Leiceste...

I can see that the hon. Gentleman is very proud of his constituency, and I am glad that the peopl...

In the light of the hon. Lady’s comments, does she not realise that powers already exist to cover...

The Bill contains clauses on banning orders and rogue landlords, but they relate to taking action...

It is very decent of the hon. Lady to give way. I do not want to disappoint her and, in this deba...

I am always in favour of innovation and new ways of looking at things, but I looked at that propo...

Order. It will be obvious to the House that this is a short debate—we have less than two hours le...

I think I am going to fail at the first hurdle, Madam Deputy Speaker.

It is a pleasure to s...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to talk about green-belt land. Does he agree that green-belt l...

I completely agree with my hon. Friend, and I will come on to that point in a minute.

As I ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman who is my neighbour for giving way. He and I agree on the Leeds City C...

The hon. Gentleman knows that I have raised those issues on a number of occasions. Of course the ...

I am glad to be able to contribute to this debate on housing, because it is a clear example of a ...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Glasgow Central (Alison Thewliss), because her lea...

My hon. Friend speaks with great passion on this issue, and that is wonderful. If councils take t...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The only thing I would question is his use of the word “if”. ...

As always, my hon. Friend is speaking as a passionate advocate of self-build. He talks about loca...

I am very pleased to hear that. There is quite a lot going on in the south-west, and I hope it wi...

Perhaps that is because shoes are not particularly expensive, whereas a flat in London can cost £...

The word “expensive” is a function of supply and demand, and the word “affordable” is itself deep...

As a former teacher of year 3 children, I will be particularly mindful of your stipulation on tim...

The long-term strength and vitality of the housing market is of great importance to North West Le...

It sounds to me as though my hon. Friend has visited buildforlife.org.uk, the website of the all-...

Indeed. My hon. Friend will know that a couple of years ago, I hosted the Building for Life funct...

My hon. Friend outlined clearly what a good Conservative authority can do to deliver housing. I w...

I thank the Minister for agreeing to a meeting. I hope that he and our Liberal Democrat colleague...

With his great expertise and knowledge of house building, would my hon. Friend ever contemplate b...

There is no green belt in my constituency, but there is a green wedge, which is a valued area of ...

So the answer is no.

Indeed.

The Government have announced that there will be 400,000 new affordable homes and t...

It is a pleasure to take part in this debate and to follow the hon. Member for North West Leicest...

The hon. Gentleman makes a very important point, with which I strongly agree, about institutional...

That is an intelligent intervention and a sensible point. Of course I agree, but that does not bu...

Would you agree with me that your council could take guidance from Medway Council, a Conservative...

Order. I do not want to interrupt the hon. Lady, but this happened yesterday five times and it ha...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I welcome the intervention from the hon. Lady, and indeed anythi...

The crux of the problem that we face, and which we have faced for many years, is the fact that we...

Does my hon. Friend—by the way, I was born in his constituency, in Browns Coppice Avenue—think th...

I completely agree. It is ridiculous politics for people on the housing ladder to seek to pull it...

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. He is the first person to make the wider point that...

My hon. Friend is absolutely correct. Help to Buy is very similar to the car scrappage scheme, wh...

I want to bring this debate back to the reality I see in my surgeries week after week, as familie...

Is the hon. Lady aware that in some parts of the country, such as Hull, the private rented sector...

That is not the experience in my constituency, where people are being priced out of the city, whi...

I think that everyone has been delighted to contribute to the debate, and I am pleased to see tha...

I thank my long-term neighbour for giving way. I am glad that the leader of the Liberal Democrats...

I think my hon. Friend must have read my speech. I was about to say that people in Eastleigh felt...

I declare my interest as a director of a shared ownership property portal and a mortgage broker. ...

Given my hon. Friend’s great expertise on this matter and my lack of knowledge, could he enlighte...

This is very simple. My hon. Friend is an expert on decanting, I think, and the answer to his que...

First, I thank everyone who has contributed to this good-natured debate, leaving aside the unfort...

What a fascinating debate this has been. It was opened

by t...