Tag: affordable housing

Bishop of London speaks on need to improve housing standards in the UK

The Bishop of London spoke in a debate following a motion to take note: “That this House takes note of the situation of leaseholders who are facing substantial bills for fire and building safety remediation work; and of the need for safe, green and affordable housing” tabled on 4th November 2021, arguing for greater protection to leaseholders:

The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Lord, Lord Stunell, for securing this debate, and I thank the noble Lord who will speak after me. It has been four years, four months and 20 days since the Grenfell Tower fire. On the 14th day of every month, Grenfell survivors and their loved ones walk around the remains of Grenfell Tower to signal that they are yet to receive justice for what has happened.

Many in the other place allowed the Fire Safety Bill to pass on the promise that the issues relating to the remediation of unsafe buildings would be dealt with comprehensively and thoroughly in the Building Safety Bill. However, the Bill has just completed Committee in the other place and the Government have yet to set out how they intend to deal with the unaffordable costs faced by leaseholders for interim safety measures and the remediation of unsafe buildings.

The Government’s reannouncement of £5 billion for the removal of unsafe cladding only raised concerns for those affected. The Red Book notes that £3 billion will be spent over the spending review period up to the end of March 2025. Can the Minister tell the House when he expects all dangerous cladding will have been removed?

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Church Commissioners Written Questions: Community Wellbeing

On 18th October 2021, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answer to a question from an MP:

Jim Shannon MP (DUP, Strangford): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church Commissioners are taking to provide affordable, sustainable and beautiful housing to support community wellbeing on the Church estate.

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Archbishop of Canterbury asks about construction of affordable housing

The Archbishop of Canterbury received the following written answer on 10th February 2021:

The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury asked Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether their target for the number of affordable homes that they want to see built is sufficient to meet the demand for such homes.

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Archbishop of Canterbury asks about definition of affordable housing

The Archbishop of Canterbury received the following written answer on 9th February 2021:

The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury asked Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Greenhalgh on 26 January (HL Deb, col 1500), what assessment they have made of the level of household income that would be needed to afford a home defined as “affordable”.

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Archbishop of Canterbury asks about criteria for defining affordable housing

On 26th January 2021, the Archbishop of Canterbury asked a question on the criteria used by the government to define affordable housing, in advance of a Church of England report on housing and communities:

The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: My Lords, I declare non-financial interests in various Church lands through numerous charities of which I am a member. The Church will be publishing a housing, church and communities report in February. Can the Minister tell us what criteria Her Majesty’s Government use to define affordable housing? Is it genuinely affordable in the sense that most people would use the word?

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Bishop of St Albans raises issue of housing in debate on intergenerational unfairness

The Bishop of St Albans took part in a debate on a report from the Select Committee on Intergenerational Unfairness on 25th January 2021, focusing on access to and provision of housing:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans [V]: My Lords, the decrease in the rates of home ownership for the younger generation is a major issue and not one of their own making. As this excellent report demonstrates, it is an important factor in addressing issues of intergenerational fairness. For many years, there has been a failure to supply housing adequately—an issue exacerbated by a cycle of stagnation fuelled by low market absorption rates and stalled developments.

The Letwin report suggests that one of the most important reasons for this is that developers will build new homes only at a rate that the market can absorb and that, by diversifying housing products, rates of absorption will increase. However, when I put down Written Questions to Her Majesty’s Government on this topic, never once has it been acknowledged that it might be in the interest of developers to land bank, as increased supply is likely to reduce house prices. While I believe that this has contributed to the lack of supply, I agree that low absorption remains a real issue. However, I do not think that diversification alone will solve it.

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Bishop of Southwark presses Government on shortage of council housing and affordable homes

On 8th September 2020 Members of the House of Lords questioned the Government on their targets for new home building. The Bishop of Southwark, Rt Revd Christopher Chessun, asked a question:

The Lord Bishop of Southwark: The Minister will be aware that council housing lists are running at over 1 million, and in my diocese, private rental is a prohibitive drain on all but the most generous of incomes. Will he outline what proportion of the 300,000 new homes will be assigned to social housing? Continue reading “Bishop of Southwark presses Government on shortage of council housing and affordable homes”

Bishop of St Albans asks Government to increase social housing

On 16th June Baroness Sanderson of Welton asked Her Majesty’s Government “when they plan to publish the social housing White Paper“. The Rt Revd Alan Smith, Bishop of St Albans, asked a follow up question focusing on the loss of social housing units.

The Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, these Benches welcome the upcoming White Paper, but we are still losing tens of thousands of social housing units annually, with a net loss of 17,000 in 2019 alone. Can the Minister confirm to your Lordships’ House that increasing social housing will be addressed in the White Paper, and is he able to give us some indication as to the steps that Her Majesty’s Government will implement to address this worrying decline?

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Archbishop asks Government about plans to build communities and affordable housing

On 18th March 2020 Baroness Thornhill asked the Government “what assessment they have made of the results of the Housing Delivery Test, published on 13 February.” The Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Revd Justin Welby, asked a follow-up question:

The Archbishop of Canterbury:  The Question from the noble Baroness, Lady Thornhill, is pertinent. Last year I set up a commission to look at the building of housing and communities. Simply the delivery of more houses does not create better communities. The mere existence of houses is not in itself a virtue. It comes back to fattening the pig, as the noble Baroness put it so well. What powers will the planned legislation give to local authorities to ensure that affordable housing is delivered? The experience is that, although there may be a commitment to it in the early stages of planning, as the process goes on the number of affordable houses diminishes very severely. There is a lack of imagination over the forms of ownership. If we are to have communities, we must have facilities and the capacity to build those communities together. Does the Minister agree with that, and what are the plans?

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Bishop of London asks Government if income instead of market value could be used to define affordability in housing

On 27th February 2020 Lord Young of Cookham asked Her Majesty’s Government “what progress they have made in meeting their target of delivering 300,000 homes per year by the mid-2020s.” The Bishop of London, Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, asked a follow up question:

The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, will the Minister say whether the Government are planning to look at different versions of what affordability might mean in relation to housing? I am sure noble Lords know that the West Midlands Combined Authority has been looking at income rather than market value. This has brought house prices within easier reach of more people in lower income brackets. Continue reading “Bishop of London asks Government if income instead of market value could be used to define affordability in housing”