Homes and Planning Bill

Andrew Lewin Excerpts

Friday 13th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Lewin (Welwyn Hatfield) (Lab)]

A number of colleagues have spoken of their great respect for the hon. Member for St Ives (Andrew George). I have personal thanks to give to him, because many years ago—before Brexit, before coalition Governments and long before I had any grey hair—my first work experience in Parliament was in his office. He is a man who is committed to doing his best to tackle the housing crisis, and I have huge admiration for him.

I want to talk about the macro challenge of the housing crisis, which is the real issue that faces us today, but I will start by addressing the point made by the hon. Member about his ambition of having affordable housing secured in perpetuity. I want to reflect on the reforms that this Labour Government have made to right to buy, because they are so important. We are making changes that mean that any new social home built will have a 35-year exemption whereby right to buy cannot be exercised, and the discounts available to people who are seeking right to buy have been significantly reduced. That, by the way, reverses a decision made in 2012 under the coalition Government when those discounts were significantly increased.

As I said, I seek to talk to the big picture. I want us to build homes at scale and to have the greatest possible emphasis on building social and affordable housing. I am sorry that this may upset the hon. Member for Mid Sussex (Alison Bennett), but I will start with how we got into this problem and talk a little about the collapse in social housing under the coalition Government. This is not party political point scoring; these are facts.

In 2010-11—the last year of the last Labour Government—the number of social homes completed was 39,000. That is a combination of council homes and housing association homes—homes for social rent. In 2015-16—the last year of the coalition Government—the number completed was 6,500. That collapse in social housing occurred when the hon. Member’s party were in government. I understand that many Liberal Democrat Members played no part in that Government, but we must recognise that the leader of their party, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Ed Davey), sat at the Cabinet table at that time.

It was not just under the coalition Government; it continued through the Conservative-majority Governments that followed. By the time we get to 2021, the net loss of social homes in this country from 2012 was 280,000. As a society, we were not just failing to build social housing but losing it year on year. That is why we have a national crisis and that is why this subject is rightly debated so frequently and intensely in the House of Commons.

[Amanda Martin]

The picture my hon. Friend paints nationally is very stark. In my city, at the peak we had 27,000 council houses, and we have had a loss of 11,000. We now have fewer than 16,000 in operation. Had we rebuilt those homes during that time, the 3,000 people on the waiting list would have somewhere to live.

[Andrew Lewin]

I could not agree more. I know that councils up and down the country have been battling, but it is the national choices made that have put us in this position.

[Andrew George]

I agree with everything the hon. Member just said. I was on the Government Benches during the coalition years, and I opposed those measures; indeed, many of my Liberal Democrat colleagues did their best to try to face them down. But may I get some clarity? From what I understand, the hon. Member and other Labour Members are saying that my Bill—this sensible piece of legislation—should be opposed and blocked by the Government as punishment for the coalition years. So it is purely petty party political point scoring. Should we not be doing better?

[Andrew Lewin]

I am grateful for the hon. Member’s intervention. That is not my position at all. My position is that we need—[Interruption.] Let me answer. We need a national answer to the housing crisis, and I was setting the scene of why we are in the place we are today. I am about to reflect on what we need to do differently and what the Government have already done in their first two years in office.

First, and most importantly, we have had a sustained and significant increase in Government funding for social housing via the affordable homes programme. A 10-year settlement of £39 billion was initially announced—a 60% increase on what went before—topped up by £1.5 billion announced just a couple of weeks ago in the Budget specifically for council housing. [Interruption.] No, I recognise that some Liberal Democrat Members are in agreement, but it is also the case that this is about big macroeconomic choices. This was a choice by the Government to spend more money on housing.

[Kevin Bonavia (Stevenage) (Lab)]

Eighty years ago this week, the Labour Government of Clement Attlee and the Minister’s predecessor, Lewis Silkin, announced Stevenage as the first new town. That was a big macroeconomic choice. Tens of thousands of homes were built, but now we have a housing a crisis in my town. Our council is so pleased that we have a Government who are providing more funding to build council homes again. Does my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour agree?

[Andrew Lewin]

I could not agree more. My hon. Friend is my constituency neighbour, and it is fantastic to work together on this issue.

On the economic choices—this is the central point—the current investment was only possible because of Labour Budgets in 2024 and 2025, and the one given at the Dispatch Box just a couple of weeks ago. The Liberal Democrats did not support those Budgets, and we have to focus on this issue. Economic choices underline every facet of this debate.

I want to make a quick reference to the importance of Homes England. There has been a good debate today about land ownership, access to land and how it is not affordable. Homes England, empowered by the Government, is purchasing strategic sites so that we can build more social and affordable homes across the country. I am very fortunate that in Welwyn Garden City, one of the two fantastic towns that I represent, we have a success story from the latest round of AHP funding. The front page of this week’s Welwyn Hatfield Times says that 128 new homes will be delivered, including 90 for social rent and 38 for shared ownership. That is a step in the right direction, and has been made possible because of national Government investment and Homes England.

I have an ambition to reshape the housing market. Today I have listened closely to colleagues who represent communities across the country, and I know that the market is broken in many parts of England. In my view, one of the reasons for this is that the private rented sector has doubled in size since the year 2000, which I do not think was a policy ambition of any political party. That has come about because we have failed to build the social housing that we need, and because we have not been able to get enough people on to the housing ladder so that they can have security of home ownership. The private rented sector has swollen, and I believe that our ambition should be to shrink it through the growth of social housing and of homes to buy.

This Government are taking on both those challenges. Importantly, they are acting to protect private renters through the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, which includes a ban on no-fault evictions, greater security of tenure and an end to bidding wars between people who are desperate to have a roof over their heads—a landmark achievement. As I have said, we are also investing in social housing and looking to support people who aspire to get on the housing ladder.

We have a mortgage guarantee scheme that has been under way for just over a year, and it gives people the opportunity to put down a deposit of less than 10% of the value of their home, with the Government providing support to the lender. We also have an exciting new scheme that was confirmed in the Budget, Your First Home, whereby the Government will step in so that, through an equity loan scheme, people can get on the housing ladder with a deposit of as little as 2.5%. That has the potential to be transformative for lots of people who are currently in the private rented sector and want a way out. By the way, if they are able to access a deposit, they will spend less money on a mortgage than they currently do on their rent. That is why this package is so important.

Fixing the housing crisis is about big political and economic choices. I know the hon. Member for St Ives is absolutely sincere in wanting a better mix of housing for his community, but I believe that we need an ambitious national agenda to address this problem. Previous Governments have not lived up to the promise of acting on the housing crisis. There is still a lot of work to do, but I am very confident that with this Housing Minister, who has been sat around the Cabinet table since July, we are on track to make a real difference to people’s lives across the country.