Homes and Planning Bill

Samantha Dixon Excerpts

Friday 13th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Samantha Dixon (Chester North and Neston) (Lab)]

Protecting our affordable housing stock is vital as we continue to pass through the cost of living crisis, and consider the scale of the housing crisis that confronts us. I hear this repeatedly on the doorsteps of Chester North and Neston, and I know that many Members hear the same. From larger urban centres to smaller villages and rural areas, my constituency contains the whole spectrum of housing provision. Residents have continuously voiced concerns about access to affordable housing across the constituency as a whole.

In small rural towns, like Neston, younger people and those on lower incomes are being pushed out by the lack of affordability, leaving historic settlements less diverse and worse off. Neston has the potential to be a wonderful home for our younger people. It has great links with Chester, Liverpool and the Wirral, access to beautiful green spaces that are well suited to family outings and sports, and good schools and restaurants—in short, the basic building blocks needed for a fulfilling, well-rounded life. To hear stories of families who can no longer afford to live there, pushed out by a lack of affordable homes, is disheartening, and strengthens my commitment to improving the situation—a commitment that I know is shared by this Labour Government.

With that in mind, I recognise the ambitions set out in the Bill introduced by the hon. Member for St Ives (Andrew George). The delegation of greater power to local communities who know their areas, with a depth and cultural understanding that cannot be replicated by a top-down, heavy-handed approach, is admirable. I believe that the Government understand that and, since entering office, they have begun to give the issue the attention and focus it deserves. For that reason, when I read the Bill I found that many of its proposals began to feel somewhat similar.

To take one example, let us consider the Bill’s clauses that would require any housing associations seeking to dispose of homes to give preference to local community bodies. If that sounds familiar, it is because the Social Housing Bill, which has been extensively debated and will soon return to the Chamber, contains requirements for housing associations to notify registered providers in their local area when selling homes out of the regulated sector. This replication of work already undertaken or in progress continues throughout the Bill before us, touching on business rates, right to buy and measuring housing need, to mention but a few examples.

I have seen the passionate and dedicated campaigning of the hon. Member for St Ives in this area, and I truly believe in his commitment to delivering for his constituents. It is clear to me that he shares my own commitment to improving access to affordable housing. However, I remain concerned that by passing the Bill into law risks duplicating work already undertaken by the Government and muddying the waters. Building more social and affordable housing is central to continuing the robust economic growth that we have seen in this country over the past two years. I believe that passing the Bill before us may create the potential for confusion and unnecessary red tape, which threatens the overall effectiveness of this Government’s house building programme.

[Caroline Voaden]

I thank the hon. Member for giving way—I have to be careful not to stand on the dog that is lying at my feet. She says that passing the Bill would be confusing because the Government are attempting to build more social and affordable homes. I do not think any Members on the Liberal Democrat Benches are against building more social and affordable homes, but the problem is that so many of those homes that exist and that are built in areas like that of my hon. Friend the Member for St Ives (Andrew George) and mine in South Devon become second homes and holiday lets. The Bill is trying to prevent those much-needed residential dwellings leaking out of the housing system. It does not matter how many homes are built, because if there is no cap on the number of second homes and holiday lets, local people still cannot get a home.

[Samantha Dixon]

I acknowledge the hon. Member’s points and I am sure that the Minister will respond to them in due course.

The hon. Member for St Ives is right to highlight the rapid growth in short-term lets in our communities. Chester has a strong heritage and leisure industry that attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year, and the growth of our visitor economy has risen in step with the number of short-term lets. In Chester, and many other communities across the country, the proliferation of short-term lets has the potential to erode the supply of housing in the private rented sector. In turn, that may drive up rents for hard-pressed families. It is right that this issue is given the attention we are giving it today. Short-term lets certainly have their place in a vibrant tourism economy across the UK. Indeed, I am proud that Sykes Holiday Cottages, a company that takes its responsibilities in this area seriously, is headquartered in my constituency.

None the less, the growth in this sector must not come at the expense of our local communities. In the light of that, I was pleased to hear the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport reconfirm the Government’s commitment to the regulation of short-term lets, providing local leaders the power to balance local need for affordable housing while still benefiting from tourism in their areas. The short-term lets register will take decisive steps in an area that the Bill seeks to regulate. I am sure we will hear from the Minister for Housing and Planning about this in due course. I know that he has spent a substantial amount of time with the hon. Member for St Ives discussing this particular issue.

[Ben Maguire]

Let me just pick up the point about the registration scheme. Cornish MPs have met the Minister for Tourism and Sport, and, as we understand it, the scheme will start out as a voluntary one, so holiday lets can voluntarily register themselves. There is currently a data issue, as local authorities cannot even access data on a specific level to see the scale of the problem in some of our constituencies.

[Samantha Dixon]

I acknowledge the hon. Member’s point. As I said, I am sure that my hon. Friend the Minister of State is listening and will respond to those points in due course.

[Markus Campbell-Savours]

My hon. Friend made the point that the registration scheme moves us forward some way, but for an area such as mine in the Lake district, it achieves very little other than the ability to count short-term lets. If I want to count them, I will look at the small business rates relief system, which already counts about 90% of them. Does she recognise that until we have a system that allows us to cap them, as a licensing scheme would, a registration scheme will do very little?

[Samantha Dixon]

Again, I acknowledge the hon. Member’s point. I am sure that the Minister of State is keen to respond later in the debate to those particular issues.

Let me be clear. The hon. Member for St Ives and other Members supporting this Bill are not wrong to demand a stronger and more affordable housing market that provides local authorities with greater power over their community planning, but, in putting this Bill forward, the excellent cause that it champions risks being lost in an already very busy and active policy landscape and leading to an unnecessary doubling of work. Our focus and the Government’s focus is on working hard to ensure that Government policy in this area is robust and delivered at pace to bring about real progress for residents in our constituencies and across the whole country.