Covid-19: Housing

Lord Bird Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh]

I note the noble Baroness’s comments on right-to-buy provisions and the specific points she raised. However, the Government have an enviable record in the delivery of homes, delivering 241,000 additional homes in the last year, the highest level for 30 years. Over the last 10 years, 450,000 affordable homes have been delivered, so we are seeing more homes built of all types and tenures. We need to recognise that achievement, but I note the points on right to buy.

[Lord Bird (CB)]

I commend the Government on their support of rough sleepers and their categorical promise that they will not put those people back on the streets. Has the Minister looked into the possibility that there may well be half a million people unable to pay their rent or mortgage after the Covid-19 pandemic? Will we make sure that we keep these people indoors? If they get evicted or become homeless, that is when the bills and the disruption really take off. I do not want to see another generation simply replace the current rough sleepers who have been removed from the streets.

[Lord Greenhalgh]

The noble Lord made a very powerful speech on rough sleeping last week and I learnt a lot about the generations of people who were not well served by successive Governments. I note his call for a bold plan to end rough sleeping, finally, and his concerns, which are quite right, about the people who have suffered great economic loss during the pandemic. That is why we need to reopen the economy as safely as we possibly can and in a way that does not cause a second peak. The department is reviewing the situation with regard to evictions, but no decision has been taken yet.