My Lords, I rise to speak in support of this group of amendments, and specifically to Amendment 62. I and my colleagues remain totally opposed to the sale of
high-value council properties in order to subsidise the right-to-buy discount for a small number of lucky housing association tenants who may well qualify for the right-to-buy scheme. We are not opposed to housing association tenants having the opportunity to buy their homes, but this should not be at a cost to council tax payers in general. The way the Government have constructed the calculations on the sale of high-value housing is nothing short of a tax on local authorities which is neither transparent nor equitable.
For the vast majority of councils, selling off their high-value homes will mean that they are unlikely to be able to discharge their duty to rehouse larger families. It is not the case that every area has a stock of homes in conservation areas, or in areas where house prices are beyond the reach even of the council officers. We heard from my noble friend Lord Greaves earlier in Committee about the prices the houses in his area are likely to fetch.
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The truth is that many councils’ high-value homes are those intended to accommodate large families. Some of these families will be as a result of previous relationship breakdowns and the coming together of two people, each with their own children. Sometimes a large family will belong to a religious group or culture where large families are expected and the norm. Whatever the reason, it is a personal matter and not for public interference.
The Government should not be discriminating against these families just because they are large. Councils will still have a duty to house these families, yet are likely to have a very limited supply of suitable homes as a result of selling off their larger dwellings. This could lead to increased homelessness or perhaps families being separated as they are offered smaller, separate accommodation. If councils do have high-value homes that they can dispose of they should be allowed to keep a proportion of the proceeds to replace them with cheaper accommodation that will fulfil the function of the properties that have been sold.
Nottingham City Homes tenants have sent me a letter in which they say:
“This proposal was widely seen as ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’. Those losing out would be people seeking to rent affordable council-owned homes who would see them sold to raise money to facilitate the sale of housing association homes at discounts to people who can afford mortgages. One tenant said ‘it’s like Robin Hood ... in reverse’. There was great scepticism that the sales would generate the revenue to meet the shortfalls in housing association finances. As a result, tenants feared:
‘High value would just be redefined to include more and more homes, so more and more got sold’.
‘I live in a council home that some might consider “high value”—why should someone who comes after me not be able to live in a council house in this neighbourhood?’
It was noted that some of the higher value properties could be bungalows, often in urgent need by people with disabilities, and often specially adapted for those with mobility problems”.
Tenants said:
“‘Our properties have been adapted for tenants with disabilities. If they are sold then other homes will have to be adapted too, at extra cost’.
‘There will no longer be any affordable council housing in certain neighbourhoods—council housing will be marked out as something that is only in poorer areas.’”
We have probably all received the Joseph Rowntree Foundation briefing that predicts that many of the high-value homes sold by councils will be bungalows. I am not sure about the level of supply of bungalows in cities, but certainly in the Somerset market towns and villages, bungalows come at a premium. Many residents, having lived much of their adult lives and certainly their retirement in villages of their choice, do not wish to move and are desperate to downsize, but have nowhere available on their doorstep to do so. When bungalows come up for sale or for rent they are snapped up. It is extreme folly to force councils to sell off the one asset that allows people to live in their own homes longer without the need for carers or having to resort to care homes.
Last week, following an application from a very forward-thinking developer, a small development of 14 bungalows was agreed in a village. Some of these will be affordable and one is to be specifically built for disabled access. It would be a very retrograde step if these were subsequently forced to be sold off to provide the subsidy for dwellings in a town that might not even be in the same county.
Council budgets are under extreme pressure and are likely to reduce even further in the future. Councils simply to do not have the money to replace the high-value homes sold off. For all the reasons I have given above, I believe that the Government should allow a deduction from the sum realised from the sale of high-value homes to cover the cost of a one-for-one replacement. This would be in addition to the deductions already proposed in the Bill. The Minister indicated earlier in Committee that the Government intention on replacement was never like for like. However, I have understood that they intend the replacement to be one for one—that is what we are asking for here—and for it to be funded from the sale of high-value homes. I support the amendment.