My Lords, I support all the amendments in this important group. I shall speak particularly to Amendments 69D, 70E, 76A, 79C, and Clauses 78, 84, 85 and 86 stand part. I will try not to repeat previous contributions but I agree with the comments made, especially by the previous speaker.
There is something inherently abhorrent in central Government imposing their will on locally elected councils and insisting that they must do the Government’s bidding. In some cases this may be justified, where they are protecting the very vulnerable in our society—children, the frail elderly, and the chronically sick and disabled—but not on housing. The provision of housing has always been and currently remains, the responsibility of local authorities. They have discharged this duty for decades always with the needs of their local communities in mind, as my noble friend Lord Shipley has already indicated.
We now have a situation where a local authority must charge a high-income tenant a high rent. This might be acceptable if the tenants were, indeed, earning a high income. I welcome the Government’s commitment to introduce a taper and look forward to confirmation of what that taper will actually look like and mean for tenants. However, I would much prefer that we leave the discretion to local authorities, which know their communities, to determine at what point they start charging individual tenants higher rents. The words “may” and “enable” give all those involved the opportunity to assess actual incomes, individual needs and the likelihood of the higher rent being paid.
Absolutely the last desirable outcome is for the tenant to be evicted for non-payment of rent. They will have to move to a cheaper housing area, the wage earners will have further to travel to work or lose their jobs and the children will be forced to change schools. Where is the sense in this?
5 pm
I am sure that your Lordships have all received many letters from members of the public on the subject of pay to stay. I could spend the next 30 minutes reading out some of these heartrending stories; your Lordships will be pleased to know that I shall read only one. For reasons which will be obvious, I have not included the name or address of the writer, but I have it in my office. The lady writes:
“I am writing to let you know how Pay to Stay will affect my household.
I was homeless about 15 years ago due to a family trauma and it took me many years to get back on my feet. It took me five years to get my son back from my ex-husband who had kept him in America. During this time I experienced a severe depression and homelessness.
I was finally housed in a secure tenancy for rough sleepers. I had to give this up when I got my son back and we now have a 2 bedroom flat in a housing association flat in Camden with an assured tenancy.
I managed to obtain work again working with women with mental health needs in prison and the community. My son is now 25 and earning about £20,000. Last year I earned £26,000. This puts us over the proposed threshold for pay to stay.
I will have to give up work if this is the case. I have no savings and will not have a very big pension as my husband ‘forgot’ to pay some of my NI stamps when we had our own business about 20 years ago.
How will my son ever be able to save enough to leave home? All properties in Camden will have very high rents. I want to work as long as I can, at least another 7 years hopefully. I am 63 now.
Please look at raising the threshold of pay to stay. £40,000 is not a large wage for 2 people, especially if you are not a couple like my son and me. I feel very threatened by the housing bill and feel my flat should go to someone else when I die, not be bought and sold on for lots of money”.
That is a very poignant story, and typical of those that I have received. One lady wrote to me last week giving me a breakdown of all her household budget, including putting away a very small sum each week to pay for Christmas. She and her husband are both working and have children, the eldest of whom is six. Her husband has been in the same job for 17 years, and she has worked for the past 18. They know exactly where every penny goes. Their joint income will take them over the limit for London. If they have to pay the market rent, there will be no money for childcare.
The introduction of the taper is good news, but I urge the Minister to raise the threshold of income at which it begins; otherwise I fear that we will be hearing a lot more heartrending stories. I support the amendments.