Labour inflicts another Lords defeat on Tories’ hated housing bill

Labour has won another key battle in the House of Lords over the Tories’ “half-baked” housing bill.

Opposition peers joined forces with crossbenchers to force the Government to seek parliamentary approval over sale of high-value council homes.

Last night ministers lost one vote and were forced to offer concession in three other areas:

• They lost a vote on an amendment which would subject to parliamentary approval any payments to the Government from the forced sale of council homes.
• Ministers agreed to consider the Labour-backed amendment which would ensure a like-for-like replacement for council homes offloaded under the forced sale.
• Ministers said they would accept the Labour-backed case to protect rural areas from the forced sale of council homes.
• Ministers accepted several changes to include extra protections to prevent bad landlords from taking advantage of new rules allowing them to reclaim properties in cases of alleged abandonment.

John Healey, shadow Secretary of State for housing and planning, said: “After yet more defeats and partial climb-downs, the Government’s extreme housing plans are being exposed as simply not fit for purpose.

“It’s become clear to peers across the House of Lords that this Government has no proper plan to fix the housing pressures people face. The proposals debated will mean a severe loss of low-cost homes, at a time when they’ve rarely been needed more.

“The Tories have lost all credibility with this half-baked Bill. It’s welcome they have backtracked on some areas, but they must now urgently come back to Parliament with improvements that safeguard affordable homes for the next generation.”