Joint webchat with Conservative and Labour housing minister and shadow housing minister, MONDAY 2 MARCH 1pm

[RowanMumsnet]

We're pleased to announce something a bit different to shake up your Monday lunchtime: a joint simultaneous webchat with the Conservative Housing and Planning Minister Brandon Lewis, and the Labour Shadow Housing Minister Emma Reynolds. They’ll be joining us live for an hour on Monday March 2 at 1pm.

We know that lots of MNers are interested in housing issues, so here's your opportunity to quiz Brandon and Emma about house-building, the Green Belt, planning restrictions, new towns, private landlords, rent levels, sustainable building, social and affordable housing, and their long-term plans for making supply meet demand - and anything else that catches your eye. How do the Conservatives and the Labour party plan to build and fund housing for the next generation - and what do they want to do about short-term housing issues? Now's your chance to find out.

Brandon Lewis MP is Minister of State for Housing and Planning. He was elected as the Conservative MP for Great Yarmouth in May 2010.

Emma Reynolds MP was elected as the Labour MP for Wolverhampton North East in May 2010. She is the Shadow Housing Minister attending Shadow Cabinet.

Please join us on Monday at 1pm. As ever, if you can’t make it then, please do leave your questions on this thread in advance. And (also as ever) please remember our webchat guidelines.

Thanks
MNHQ

[TheFairyCaravan]

When will someone, anyone, do some major investing in social housing? I don't want to see the price of these 200,000 homes pushed up by 20% because of this ridiculous "help to buy" scheme. People will end up borrowing more than they can afford and be stuck in a house that is too small or in the wrong area for years. It's complete madness.

[BrandonLewisMP]

@EmmaReynoldsMP

You're right that there is a huge shortage of council and housing association homes. As somebody who grew up in a council flat I am passionate about making sure that we boost the number of social homes. I am proud of the last Labour Government's Decent Homes Programme.

Should I become the Housing Minister after the General Election, I am determined to make sure that the market starts to deliver the number of homes we need as a country because as you say the number of new households is increasing faster than the number of homes being built.

With regard to council housing supply I am proud that this government has worked to ensure we now have council house building starts at a 23 year high and our guarantee schemes are also helping the housing association sector borrow at the lowest rate they have had which also helps deliver more homes.

[EmmaReynoldsMP]

@xk140man

I am a chartered town planner. The biggest issues when we hold public events on new housing schemes are:

• lack of school spaces
  
• lack of places in doctors surgeries
  
• how will the highways be improved to take new cars
  

David Cameron's ill conceived idea for 200,000 discount houses is being paid for by no affordable housing and no S106 payments. It is the latter which typically pays for the items above. How will the above be provided for new discounted developments?

It is absolutely crucial that councils and developers ensure that when new housing developments are being planned, there is also sufficient provision of school places, GP surgeries and infrastructure. You make a valid point about David Cameron's announcement today. Apart from the fact that the numbers don't stack up, who on earth is going to pay for this new infrastructure?

[EmmaReynoldsMP]

@noideawhattoget

how do you propose to improve the conditions for council tenants?

for example, bedroom tax was brought in mainly to free up larger homes for the families which needed them, by encouraging older people living alone in large houses, to move to smaller properties. then the over 60's were made exempt from bedroom tax. the original idea was that they would get help and incentives to move. this has not happened. this is leading to larger families having to wait long periods of time to get offered suitable accommodation, in properties which are too small, run down, expensive etc.

also, larger properties are not being built in the quantities needed, the same with 1 bedroom properties.

also, the conditions in which many council tenants are living is a disgrace. properties which are cold, draughty, leaking etc. my own property was built in 1991, and still has the original heating system and windows and doors which were put in at that time. single glazed doors, and an immersion heater system. this has cost me a fortune in gas and electric (£300 electric for last quarter, compared to £120 the previous one). these properties should be updated before being let to families, especially when there are young and disabled children.

Thanks for asking your question. I spent the early part of my childhood living in a council home with my mom so I know how important council housing is.

The Bedroom Tax simply does not work and we have set out plans to scrap it. It hasn’t seen an increase in the number of homes available it has just punished people who have been living in their family home for years. Of course we need to do more to help people downsize and encourage them to do so but the Bedroom Tax is simply the wrong way to go about.

There is some council stock which is still in a poor state of repair and we must do more to tackle that. But the last Labour Government did invest a lot of money bringing council homes up to what is called the Decent Home standard but we’ll need to look at what we can do in Government to build on that.

[bereal7]

I think those with extremely expensive homes should make a bigger contribution.

Is this , yet again, Labour's plan to punish those who have worked hard/been lucky to achieve what other's don't? Surely there are other ways to go about this without creating more division and resentment between the 'haves' and 'have nots' ?

[BrandonLewisMP]

@HelenaDove

Something NEEDS to be done about the heating companies who do the gas safety checks for landlords. They have a habit of wanting to do a call between 8am and 6pm then when they dont turn up they want you to wait in ANOTHER day and then send threatening letters accusing tenants of not letting them in when they didnt actually even turn up.

Or they STILL turn up to the original appointment after the tenant has changed it well in advance and AGAIN accuse the tenant of denying access when all the tenant did was change the appointments and the call centre assured lied that it had been changed!

Sending a threatening letter with information you know or believe to be false and/or which will cause distress is in breach of the Malicious Communications Act.

And this is happening in social housing as well as private lets!

@wonderstuff

Some great questions, I really think housing is the number one issue at the moment, private renting is so insecure.

My question is this, I have a friend renting an old, cold house, she qualifies for the excellent scheme to insulate her home for free, would dearly like to take advantage of it, but her landlord refuses to sign the relevant paperwork, he isn't paying the heating bill so has no interest in it. Can anything be done to compel landlords to adequately insulate properties?

A tenant can seek improvements through the Green Deal, a landlord cannot unreasonably refuse the delivery against the need. This will help as it comes in.

With regards to your point Helena about appointments, that is a fair point to put, if others have similar experience please do let us know at [email protected] and I will look at that. This again comes back to a well managed PRS where the landlord or management company has the good sense to use logical times for these visits and works properly with you as a tenant. We all will want to ensure these important safety checks are done properly to ensure safety for all.

[EmmaReynoldsMP]

@TheFairyCaravan

When will someone, anyone, do some major investing in social housing? I don't want to see the price of these 200,000 homes pushed up by 20% because of this ridiculous "help to buy" scheme. People will end up borrowing more than they can afford and be stuck in a house that is too small or in the wrong area for years. It's complete madness.

You're right that we need to build homes of all tenures. That's why Labour's plans to build at least 200,000 homes a year by 2020 includes homes for private sale and for social housing.You're also right that we build some of the smallest homes in Western Europe. We will give councils more power and flexibility to build and commission new homes. We also want to ensure that these homes are affordable for rent or purchase for local people and that they are in the right areas.

[EmmaReynoldsMP]

@bereal7

I think those with extremely expensive homes should make a bigger contribution.

Is this , yet again, Labour's plan to punish those who have worked hard/been lucky to achieve what other's don't? Surely there are other ways to go about this without creating more division and resentment between the 'haves' and 'have nots' ?

This is about making sure we have a more progressive form of property taxation to help fund important public services that we all use like the NHS.

[BrandonLewisMP]

@AlphaBravoHenryFoxtons

Why do governments offer tax incentives to homeowners to encourage them to hoard housing wealth, when housing is in such short supply? Why not abolish principal residence relief so that gains made from housing are subject to CGT?

Abolishing principal residence relief would also stop all this nonsense flipping that goes on. I know the Tories have recently reduced the 36 month rule to 18 months so hats off to them for making some inroads into this nonsensical tax break. But why not abolish PPR altogether. It would help the young and those who've just got onto the housing ladder.

You need to do something to help young people and this would help!

I am not sure I can agree with this, I do not think it would be fair to charge CGT on a person's principal home when they move, that is simply another tax and is in effect duplicating what stamp duty does on the home you buy. CGT is on non-principal properties so that it does cover those who have more than one home and as such captures anyone as well who is purely using property as a way to invest rather than for a place to live. It could risk that same downside as the proposed mansion tax by Labour, in terms of unfairly penalising older people and people who have invested in their own home over many years and have seen its value rise, while not necessarily meaning they are wealthy in their own right outside of that.

[EmmaReynoldsMP]

@AMxx

Brandon & Emma

I can't join the webcast unfortunately, but I would love your thoughts on my questions! This is a topic close to my heart, so please forgive my candor.

Some context first - I am a single Mum. I work circa 65-70 hours a week and have done since age 20. I live in the South East of England in an area of outstanding natural beauty. When My ex and I divorced I found myself unable to find housing I could afford. The extent of this was that even if ALL my childcare was free, I still could not afford a home. As a result my daughter and I live with my retired parents. Over the last 3 and half years the situation has remained the same. I have doubled my salary, taken on extra work (and lost all tax credits) - and I no nearer to being able to afford housing. There is no affordable housing available without my having to relocate to a new area and start again with my daughter. The latest local plan allocates NO affordable housing to be built in my area for the next planning phase. The rural enabler advises me that no exception sites are being considered (same for the last 3 years). Properties on the market in our area are circa 15-18 times my annual income - a mortgage is clearly unrealistic. Rental properties are very scarce and all of which have come on the market, bar one have been in excess of my full net monthly income. The one that was affordable, we rented however only for a few months as it was then sold. I would need to save the equivalent of 7 years net pay in order to get a mortgage today - assuming house prices would not increase at all. I contacted my MP (conservative) on this a year ago, and received what I can only describe as a very unsatisfactory reply.

My questions...

1. For those of us Single parent's who work full time and are not eligible for any housing benefit / help with housing and also do not earn sufficient to house themselves / work / pay for childcare- how do each of the parties propose to address this?
   

1. What do you propose to address the issue of ever inflating house prices? Is the UK considering revisiting tax legislation in order to prompt a re-calibration of the market similarly to how Japan addressed this issue some years ago? If not, what action is proposed to address the evident house price crisis.
   

1. What is proposed in order to make mortgages more accessible for those of us who do not earn salaries in line with market prices? The ''mortgage guarantee'' was pretty ineffective in enabling larger income multiples. Eligibility for the affordable housing provisions, is frankly a post code lottery and useless to anyone living in AONB - since building is resisted intensely and it does not go far enough to address the gap between income and house price.
   

1. Is any review proposed of tenancy legislation in the UK? Has the government considered that given the accessibility to the UK home purchase market is extremely restricted for many today - particularly 'middle' income families not eligible for housing benefit (although this hardly meets the need either), and therefore a transition to a more European model might help? - for example in the UK tenancy's are a landlord's game - a renter is at the mercy of the landlord in regards to their future security and stability since long term tenancies are not the norm. In France renting is more prolific since the law facilitates it.
   

1. Does the government recognize that reviewing the planning laws related to AONB might be essential? Net mitigation, ageing populations etc speak clearly to the necessity to income housing. Builders will not build where they cannot, as they will not build what they cannot sell - commercially this hinders the progress of increasing housing stock. The UK
   

1. Finally, whilst I recognize I am fortunate to have a family I can live with and was not forced to give up my job and rely on social housing (realistically my only other option), I had felt strongly that the right thing to do was to continue to work and accept I must provide alone for my child. There are days where I reflect and realize I have no future, no prospects, no independence since I am shackled by financial constraints tied with a ridiculously inflated housing market. Had I elected to give up work, then I would have my own council house, no daily childcare nightmares, be available to support my daughter, significantly less stress and quality of life. Given the intense emphasis placed by the government on the need to work and not rely on social benefits - can you please explain to me how you feel it pays to work in my circumstances?
   

I very much look forward to your comments and insight on the above.

Thanks for your questions and for telling us a little about your situation. Many people are just like you in that no matter how hard they work and save they simply aren’t able to afford a home.

We know that there are now a record number of young people living with their parents and many more young people and families living in the private rented sector.

Much more needs to be done to build the homes families need. We’ve set our plans to get at least 200,000 homes built a year by 2020, near doubling the number we are building now and we want to see priority given to first time buyers so that they can secure a home of their own.

We also want to see more affordable homes built, unfortunately this Government cut investment in affordable housing by 60 per cent and have watered down requirements on developers’ to build affordable homes.

[TheFairyCaravan]

It would be nice for there to be some real investment in to the homes that the armed forces and their families live in, too. Too many of them are old, draughty, mouldy, uninsulated and in very poor condition.

[EmmaReynoldsMP]

@HelenaDove

Something NEEDS to be done about the heating companies who do the gas safety checks for landlords. They have a habit of wanting to do a call between 8am and 6pm then when they dont turn up they want you to wait in ANOTHER day and then send threatening letters accusing tenants of not letting them in when they didnt actually even turn up.

Or they STILL turn up to the original appointment after the tenant has changed it well in advance and AGAIN accuse the tenant of denying access when all the tenant did was change the appointments and the call centre assured lied that it had been changed!

Sending a threatening letter with information you know or believe to be false and/or which will cause distress is in breach of the Malicious Communications Act.

And this is happening in social housing as well as private lets!

I’ve had exactly the same experience recently and as somebody who’s out all day at work I know it’s really frustrating and we need to look at what we can do to make sure energy companies recognise that many people work and can’t be at home to wait for them to do their checks.
Perhaps we could follow up after this chat so I can get more information about when and where this is happening?

[EmmaReynoldsMP]

@TheFairyCaravan

It would be nice for there to be some real investment in to the homes that the armed forces and their families live in, too. Too many of them are old, draughty, mouldy, uninsulated and in very poor condition.

Thanks for raising this issue. I'm very happy to take up your concerns with my colleagues who are Shadow Defence Ministers. Is it possible for you to send more details through to me by email?

[BrandonLewisMP]

@EmmaReynoldsMP

You're right that we need to build homes of all tenures. That's why Labour's plans to build at least 200,000 homes a year by 2020 includes homes for private sale and for social housing.You're also right that we build some of the smallest homes in Western Europe. We will give councils more power and flexibility to build and commission new homes. We also want to ensure that these homes are affordable for rent or purchase for local people and that they are in the right areas.

The pledge by Labour to build 200,000 by 2020 seems to miss the fact that our current plans and the starter homes scheme announced today mean that a Conservative government will be building 200,000 per year by 2017/18. Councils already have the power Emma refers to above, under the Localism Act and via local plans, and neighbourhood plans can go even further in giving local people a real say in planning.

[EmmaReynoldsMP]

@GaryShitpeas

some brilliant questions so far

my questions are:

if house prices (and rent) are allowed to keep climbing as they have been (even slowly), there will end up a ticking time bomb of more and more people stuck in renting. most of these people will reach retirement age and still paying rent, and most of these will no longer be able to afford it (we haven't been able to save very much for retirement, see, what with spending 2/3rds of our goddam wages on rent every month for 40 years)

is there any kind of plan for this? as the country is skint, where exactly is the money going to come from in 20, 30, 40 years when generation rent are old? cos there is going to be an awful, awful lot of housing benefit needed!! or will everyone in rented just be completely screwed and end up on the streets or workhouses

also RTB is still happening, I myself have been recently offered it....why are the sold houses still not being replaced? why is there such a reluctance to build social housing when it would slash the housing benefit bill?

DH and I are not low earners, we earn around 25k a year between us. we would struggle to afford a mortgage and probably wouldn't even be allowed one anyway. despite earning over 10k a year over the NMW. why is it allowed to have become so out of reach for normal people?

also agree that "help to buy" is simply a tool to bolster the housing market and keep it heading in the "right" direction, it is absolute bullshit that its to help new home buyers, total and utter bullshit

I am part of a generation (under 40 ish) that just feels like we have been totally and utterly screwed.....There is so, sooooooo much anger and resentment around this subject, and you lot need to see this. a basic home is an essential and basic human need, why is home ownership fast becoming only for the elite?

Apart from making sure that people who rent get a much fairer deal, with three year tenancies, a ceiling on rent increases and a ban on letting agent fees, we also want to make sure that generation Rent have the opportunity either to buy a home or rent from a council or housing association. We have a comprehensive plan to boost the number of homes that are being built so that house prices and rents are more affordable.

[TheFairyCaravan]

Yes I can Emma. Thank you.

[EmmaReynoldsMP]

@pearlsandbows

Hello
We rent privately in an area of South Manchester and are finding it increasingly difficult to move from a 2 bed flat to a 3 bed property as we border a student area. Family sized houses in predominantly family areas are being rented out as student houses, some even converting living or dining rooms to bedrooms. When a family enquire about these houses they are charged per person per room. Landlords would rather rent to students for part of the year than families long term. My question is what can be done about this? Could there be any legislation introduced regarding the number of family sized homes being exclusively used as student lets in any one area? There are many larger houses used this way in the area which would be too big as average family homes.

Local councils already have the power to limit the number of student homes in an area but it is difficult to get the mix right. That’s why it is important that we boost the number of homes being built for people of all ages and stages of their life.

[EmmaReynoldsMP]

@DiamondsandRainbows

Another renting question:

How would you feel if we became a country of renters? A country where people did not necessarily aspire to buy, but were happy to rent long term? Do you feel that this would this be bad for the economy?

I ask because there seems to be as assumption that people have a desperate desire to buy a property. Even with a home ownership scheme and working hard, buying is out of our reach, I would like to get on with my life, get my children settled in school, keep them stable, make friends.

Do you think that the same effort that was put into Affordable home ownership schemes, will, or could be put into overhauling the rental sector?

Surely if there were incentives for landlords to adhere to certain criteria then renting could become clearer, fairer and tenancy agreements could be for longer, giving more families stability. I have a feeling that this does not happen because it does not fit with the economic model that the government have for the country...

Unfortunately, for many people who are renting it is not an option that they choose, but one of last resort. We want to reform the private renting sector so that it gives a much fairer deal to renters. So that if people do choose to rent they can do so in a positive way. Other countries have different cultures and customs. For example in Germany 60% of people rent. I don’t think that’s bad for their economy but clearly people have different expectations here in the UK. many people want the security of owning their own home and a Labour Government would boost the level of new homes being built so that young people can fulfill their aspiration of home ownership.

[EmmaReynoldsMP]

@Aerfen

What are you going to do to ensure that British citizens get priority over newcomers for all forms of social housing including shared ownership?

There is an easy way to do this, even while abiding by EU rules and that is to make local residence and time on the waiting list the number one criterion, and not so called 'need'.

Many local councils already have local lettings policies which prioritise people who have lived or worked in the local area. Migrants only make up a very small percentage of those who rent a social home and many of those will have lived here for many years.

[BrandonLewisMP]

@ellieh74

Hi. I would like to know what you will do to ensure people in new housing have good access to green space (especially woodland) - as this is great for mental and physical health; not to mention improving air quality, helping to mitigate flood risk etc.

You make a good point and it links to the fact that I agree we need good quality design for new homes as well as good numbers of them. I always stress this point, we need to build communities. I was fortunate last week to visit Skipton with the Woodland Trust to see the work they do with development to ensure a good environment which is good for the residents and helps our health in so many ways. It all links back to good design and we are very aware of that in the work we are doing on our locally led garden city work as well as land such as Northstowe where we will direct commission.

[EmmaReynoldsMP]

@wearenotinkansas

Emma & Brandon

Britain is become a nation of have and have nots with respect to home ownership. With this in mind can you advise what each of your parties would do:

1. To allow local authorities to build more housing for social rental
   

1. To encourage/permit local authorities to act as developers of their assets in their own right, to allow them to use private house sale to cross-subsidise social housing, and allowing them to generate a profit which can be specifically ring fenced for new housing stock
   

1. To tax absentee non-dom private sector landlords, who are the main source of the over inflated housing market in London, and elsewhere i.e, so that foreign investors pay CGT on their investments on the same basis as UK tax payers

As somebody who grew up in the early part of my childhood in a council flat, I am passionate about boosting the numbers of council and housing association homes. We want to give councils more power and flexibility to build and commission house building and we want to reverse the current Government’s watering down of affordable housing requirements on developers.

[EmmaReynoldsMP]

@bedunkalilt

Hello Brandon and Emma Reynolds.

So many questions, I'll just have to hope others ask them...

To both parties, what plans do you have, if any, to better regulate the private rentals sector? Especially in terms of fees charged and the quality of housing. Too many properties are being let in my area that are of poor standard for high prices, demanding high non-refundable referencing and admin fees, renewal fees every year, inventory and check out fees, professional cleaning requirements on exit, and little to no help from landlords or their managing agents when problems arise.

I asked my MP this question last year, who forwarded my question to the relevant government department and the response was one of essentially 'business is business, we cant get involved'. Well, housing isn't just any old business, we are talking about people's homes here. I am hoping the government's stance may gave changed since then.

I am very concerned about the delays facing people who are applying for housing benefit. A number of my constituents have raised this issue with me. Applications should be processed as quickly as possible and we need to make sure that this happens.

I am also concerned about the problem that you highlight with landlords refusing to consider people on housing benefit. As you rightly say there has been a huge increase in the number of people claiming housing benefits who are in work. I don’t think that landlords should exclude people because they are in receipt of housing benefit. We also need to make sure that working people are paid a decent wage for the work they do and that they can therefore afford to pay rent themselves.

[EmmaReynoldsMP]

@foslady

Thank you for agreeing to do this web chat. I too will be working during it, but could I also add these comments/queries?

I am a lone parent (husband walked out on me) living 'Up North' in a mortgaged house due to housing being more affordable and hence being able to buy the ex out. A few years ago I was made redundant. My main stress was caused due to there being no help for me whatsoever to keep me in my home. If I was renting I would have been eligible for HB, but as a mortgagee there was nothing. If I was renting, the rent would have been more than my mortgage, and in effect you would have been happy to have paid the mortgage on someone else's investment, but was not prepared to pay a penny towards helping to keep me in my home. This was not always the case and I know why it changed. But no one seems to realise the seriousness of this on real peoples lives.

I also work for a RSL. With private rental prices being covered in full by HB it can be very difficult to let properties at times made much harder by the under occupancy levy that only applies to RSL's. It appears that housing policy is only determined by southern housing issues, and the issues we are having are being completely ignored. It's making other issues for northern based RSL's. When are you going to realise that housing issues in the North are not the same as those in the south and need different solutions?

You are right to point out that both the housing market and problems associated with it are extremely different in different parts of the country. In my constituency in Wolverhampton house prices are much lower than in the very high demand areas of the countries like London, Brighton, Oxford. In the Midlands and the North we certainly need a much bigger focus on regeneration and bringing empty homes into use.

[BrandonLewisMP]

@EmmaReynoldsMP

Many local councils already have local lettings policies which prioritise people who have lived or worked in the local area. Migrants only make up a very small percentage of those who rent a social home and many of those will have lived here for many years.

Emma is right, local councils do have policies on this already and many local community land trusts that are developing do so specifically for their local community too.

[EmmaReynoldsMP]

@WhistlingPot

Am loving the idea of relocating Parliament to Hull danwilsoncraw

I want to relocate Parliament to Wolverhampton in my constituency. Great city, great people :)