The LGA has been raising councils’ priorities in Parliament
Housing remains a top priority for councils, and the LGA continues to engage with the Government’s programme to reform the housing sector and other parliamentary measures related to housing.
MPs recently debated the Government’s ‘A fairer private rented sector’ White Paper. Ahead of the debate, we briefed MPs on councils’ key asks for the private rented sector.
The LGA supports the proposal to ban section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions and recommendations for a legally binding and enforceable decent homes standard.
To address the unaffordability of housing – a significant cause of homelessness and evictions – we called for more investment in house building and reforms to the Right to Buy scheme, to allow councils to keep 100 per cent of receipts from homes sold to reinvest in housing delivery.
We also said councils wanted to see progress on the Renters’ Reform Bill announced in May’s Queen’s Speech.
During the debate, LGA Vice-Presidents Natalie Elphicke MP (Con, Dover) and Florence Eshalomi MP (Lab, Vauxhall) highlighted the LGA’s analysis, including our figures demonstrating that the ending of a private rented tenancy was a common reason for homelessness.
Meanwhile, the Government’s Social Housing (Regulation) Bill had its second reading in the House of Commons in November. The Bill seeks to strengthen the Social Housing Regulator’s role to increase tenants’ rights and improve their ability to hold their landlord to account.
Ahead of the debate, we outlined our key messages to MPs, including calling on the Government to consider the potential implications of removing the cap on how much social landlords can be fined in the event of non-compliance with the regulator’s orders, as fines on council landlords would, in effect, end up being paid for, at least in part, out of tenants’ rents, to the detriment of local service provision.
We also called for a proportionate, risk-based approach to inspection.
During the debate, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary Michael Gove reminded the House that the Bill was one of several steps to address some of the lessons from the Grenfell tragedy, and that it was crucial to put right what went wrong.
The LGA will be submitting further written evidence during the committee stage of the Bill.
Ahead of a Westminster Hall debate on housing targets and the planning system, the LGA flagged the need for more affordable housing, with 100,000 new, socially rented homes a year required to meet current housing needs.
We also said planning departments should be adequately resourced, with the necessary powers to facilitate delivery, and urged the Government to bring forward its commitment to give councils powers to incentivise developers to build housing more quickly.
During the debate, Gordon Henderson MP (Con, Sittingbourne and Sheppey) shared his council’s belief that housing targets should be set at local and sub-regional levels, and reflect an area’s ability to deliver them.
Finally, Parliamentarians considered the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Bill, a private members’ bill introduced by LGA Vice-President Bob Blackman MP (Con, Harrow East). The Bill seeks to regulate provision of supported exempt accommodation and ensure council oversight and enforcement.
We said councils have long been concerned about the minority of exempt accommodation providers who fall short in their duties and that councils wanted to see a locally led, fully funded oversight and enforcement regime.