My Lords, this has been a very interesting debate. I have to say that I rather struggled, as, I suspect, other Members of your Lordships’ House may have done, with the huge number of amendments in this group and the following group, which are in many ways connected. It has not made preparing for the debate—or, I suspect, replying to the debate, for the Ministers—a very easy job. However, we have heard some extremely interesting contributions, and I hope the Government will listen very carefully to the views not just of members of different political parties but particularly of the Cross-Bench Members, who have brought their experience and independence of mind to bear on these very important problems.
In the first instance, I will speak to Amendment 48, which relates to the provision of starter homes and which relates particularly to Clause 3, under which the Bill lays down:
“An English planning authority must carry out its relevant planning functions with a view to promoting the supply of starter homes in England”.
So far, so good. Subsection (2) continues:
“A local planning authority … must have regard to any guidance given by the Secretary of State in carrying out that duty”.
Amendment 48 would add to that subsection (2) something of a restriction so that it would continue,
“except where the local authority considers that providing starter homes would prevent other types of affordable housing being built”.
In other words, it introduces into the Bill the notions that there has to be a balance between the provision of starter homes and other affordable homes, and that the Secretary of State should not be able simply to prescribe that the one—starter homes—must always prevail over any other considerations. That seems a sensible way forward.
It is interesting to read the policy fact sheet on starter homes published by the department, which lays down the general nature of the Bill. It asks what the Bill hopes to achieve and answers,
“a general duty on English planning authorities to promote the supply of starter homes when carrying out their planning functions”.
So far, that is quite acceptable. However, it continues with,
“allowing the Secretary of State to make regulations to create a starter homes requirement, so that English planning authorities may only grant planning permission if the starter homes requirement is met. This will ensure that starter homes are delivered on suitable, reasonably sized sites”.
That is not necessarily a logical conclusion, but the important thing is that it makes an absolute duty, which will ultimately be fleshed out in regulations and which, needless to say, we will not have sight of before the Bill is enacted, if it is enacted in its present form. Moreover, nothing is said either here or in any other area about the salient fact that the requirement will not necessarily be confined to providing such starter homes for residents within the locality. They could come from far away or perhaps from adjoining authorities, but there is no indication that the planning requirement will address the needs of people within the very authority that will have to carry out these proposals.
Interestingly, the fact sheet says that the Government are consulting until 22 February. Admittedly, that is only a week or so ago; given the time we have to consider the Bill, I agree that that is rather a limited period, but we do not know quite when the consultation started. They are consulting,
“on changes to national planning policy to complement these legislative reforms”,
which seems somewhat akin to the old Alice in Wonderland trope of “Sentence first—verdict afterwards”. We do not know what the consultation will produce, but the Government are in any event determined to impose their view. The noble Lord, Lord Horam, who is in some danger of being accused of political recidivism on the basis of his extremely sensible contributions to the debates on the Bill, has indicated, rightly, that we are proceeding in the dark. Of course, we have been stumbling in the dark over many Bills, given the way the Government decide to conduct their business, particularly with reference to pending secondary legislation or regulations. However, the noble Lord is also right to identify that there is no available financial data within the information that is before the Committee or, presumably, that is likely to be before it. These are surely major considerations.
Reference has been made to some of the issues which are clearly of concern, in particular the position on who will be eligible for, and capable of benefiting from, the starter home concept. In particular, we have heard of the Shelter report, which makes it clear that for a majority of people who are not on high wages or without dual salaries, the starter home project will not help them get on the ladder at all; they simply will not be able to afford it.
My noble friend Lady Royall referred to the very small percentage of authorities—I think it was 2% of authorities—in which people on the national living wage would be capable of buying a starter home; even those on average earnings are likely to be able to buy in only 42% of local authorities. That is not a particularly impressive extension of what is meant to be an important right.
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There is also a question about the Government’s consultation, which, as I have indicated, it is to be on changes to national planning policy, to complement these legislative reforms. It is a question, therefore, of whether the National Planning Policy Framework is now under review. Perhaps the Minister, in replying, will indicate whether the consultation that is taking
place, about which we do not have much information, is intended to replace or reshape the National Planning Policy Framework. If it is, that is a serious matter, and it ought not to be a change that takes place without being properly considered in both Houses, not merely in this House, in the course of considering this Bill. As ever, though, the Government are apparently going ahead with policies, sometimes producing amendments at the last minute in the Commons or occasionally even in your Lordships’ House, without any indication of their intentions at a time when legislators can reasonably expect to influence the outcome. I hope that is not the case here, but I rather fear it may be.
The Opposition certainly support almost all the amendments that have come before us this afternoon and agree with many of the comments. The noble Earl, Lord Lytton, in particular, given his professional experience, is somebody to whom the Government should listen. He is a Member with critically relevant experience in this area. Equally, we have heard from very distinguished Members with long associations with the housing movement and local government. The noble Lord, Lord Best, made an interesting point about the potential role of institutional investors. This is something that is new and ought to be encouraged but may, as he implied, be damaged by overconcentration on the particular policy which the Government seem determined to pursue at all costs.
The noble Lord, Lord Stoneham, rightly emphasised that too great a concentration on individual areas is unlikely to be productive. That, again, raises the question of locality.
The thrust of the Government’s policy, as we shall no doubt discuss in the next group of amendments, to promote home ownership and to make it possible for people to buy starter homes, is one that we all, I think, endorse. However, the way it is likely to work out, as we have heard and I suspect will hear again in the course of debate on the next group, is extremely problematic. The Opposition support the amendments, and I include in those, as very worthy of consideration, the amendments tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, who has taken a welcome, pragmatic approach but one that is more akin to the concerns of many of your Lordships about the position than the Government’s position as it currently stands. I hope they will listen carefully to him if they have not already had private discussions. I imagine they have, and if they have not, I imagine these will take place after this debate.
There is, however, one debate on which I have a bit of a quibble. That is in relation to Amendments 36B and 37A, moved and spoken to, respectively, by the noble Lord, Lord Tope, and supported by the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell. I am not sure that what they are saying reflects the legal position that they think it does. What they are proposing, under Amendment 36B, is on the first page of the Bill—indeed, the first line of the Bill—to make clear that the purpose of this chapter is to promote, as they say, “home ownership” as well as the supply of starter homes.
That is reasonable, but they go on, in Amendment 37A, to define “home ownership” by adding to the clause:
“‘Home ownership’ means the holding of a legal estate by a home owner in a home or in a share of a home”.
Then they say,
“‘Home owner’ means one or more individuals who holds or hold a legal estate”.
I am not quite sure whether the noble Lord and the noble Baroness have appreciated that a legal estate is not just a freehold interest. It could be any interest for a term certain. In other words, a leasehold interest for a term certain might be a long leasehold interest. In that event, if it is a 99-year lease, there is no great problem, but, in the amendment, it could be a much shorter period than that for a leasehold interest. For example, a five-year lease, which in law would constitute a legal estate, would not quite be what they contemplate in terms of the impact of that amendment. Perhaps, therefore, they might like to rethink that or, probably better yet, take better legal advice than I am currently offering. I am not absolutely sure of the implications, but they have possibly misunderstood the nature of a legal estate, and that has possibly influenced the amendment.
We are about—after the dinner break business, I suspect—to get further into the heart of this complicated issue. It is one that will concern Members across the Committee because what we do not see is the total housing picture. We are looking at one important new area—home ownership itself is an important area—but we are not considering the totality of housing need, the geography of housing need, or the impact on meeting housing need of one set of provisions as against another. The focus is so narrowly on starter homes in the Bill and in this part of the Bill that we are missing the bigger picture. I say “we”—the Government are missing the bigger picture, and we need to draw their attention to the relationship between the various aspects of housing need and the housing policy that must follow through to get a more balanced Bill as a result of discussions in this House.
I do not think they got very far in the Commons; it is our responsibility, by drawing on the knowledge and experience of Members with a long history of involvement with housing, particularly the housing association movement, to improve it. I hope the Government will listen to the debate and respond constructively to this series of amendments and particularly, perhaps, to the next group.