Housing Bill: 16 Defeats And U-Turns

The Government’s flagship housing legislation is having a miserable time of it in the House of Lords. MPs may ignore the will of the Lords, but there has already been a series of concessions. Here are 16 defeats and U-turns it’s suffering from.

1.       Defeat: Raid on council coffers - Treasury has been blocked from keeping the proceeds of the forced sale of high-value council houses - to fund Right-to-Buy discounts - without parliamentary approval

2.       Defeat: £100k discount on new homes - scheme to hand well-off first-time buyers a taxpayer-funded 20% discount on a Starter Home has been moderated

3.       Defeat: Making “pay-to-stay” mandatory - Peers voted in support of a Labour-led amendment to give local councils the discretion over whether to implement “pay to stay”

Read thirteen more defeats and U-turns on the Huffington Post website.

More Bill Amendment Defeats For The Government

The government has suffered more defeats in the Lords during the report stage of the housing and planning bill.  The requirement to instigate pay to stay will now be voluntary for councils as it is for Housing Associations. The government was also defeated over its taper proposals. It wanted a 20 per cent taper but peers opted for a 10 per cent taper.  Another successful amendment resisted by ministers means the pay to stay income threshold will be increased to £50,000 a year in London and £40,000 outside London. The government wanted to have the thresholds set at £31,000 outside London and £40,000 in London. In another move the government has now accepted that the regulation on council house sales to fund the right to buy extension will now be decided by parliament instead of ministers alone. Read more on the Planning Portal.