My Lords, I have an amendment in this group. It follows immediately after the amendment from the noble Lord, Lord Kerslake. I am grateful to the intervention from the noble Lord, Lord Young, because it has widened and opened up a fundamental debate. The noble Lord described social housing now as “residualised housing” because that is what it is. We are getting to the last knockings of social housing. I do not think that that is right or appropriate. The problem that we have is spiralling rents in the public sector, spiralling rents in the private sector and a diminution of supply. The noble Lord says that there will be like-for-like replacement. So far during the Conservatives’ time in government since 2010, we have not had anywhere near like-for-like
replacement. I think that the figure is one in 10. That is a great shame, although the aspiration is absolutely right.
When I chaired a housing committee, with the capital receipts that we accrued we had the opportunity to get some of the way towards like-for-like replacement. Now, we are nowhere near it and that is part of the problem. We need to expand public sector housing provision on a massive scale. That will help to drive down rents in both the public and the private sectors, and we can get back to the point where social housing is no longer viewed as residual housing for the poorest in our communities and for those who are struggling to get on to the housing ladder.
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My amendment goes with the idea of 12-year secure tenancies and the reason for that is simple. In reply to one of my Written Questions earlier in the year, the noble Baroness, Lady Williams, said that that was the average amount of time that you could expect a council tenant to occupy a tenancy. That is the clue here. People still view this housing as long term and secure, and 12 years is a fairly lengthy period. It is a period in which you might begin a family and put down roots in your local community. That is why I pitched it at 12 years, although any other number could be picked.
We have to rethink where we are going with our policy. The noble Lord, Lord Young, accurately described where we are but I think that we are heading in the wrong direction. The answer here is to increase supply and provision and to take a different view of where we are going with our housing policy. That is why I am happy to have tabled my amendment and to see this debate widen.