Chamber and committees

Okay. Thanks very much.

Accommodation for seasonal workers is currently unregulated—I can see that you recognise that issue, minister—and I am aware of seasonal workers living in overcrowded caravans. Sometimes there are six people, who are each paying £300 a month. In some cases, the caravans are in poor condition. Is there scope for the bill to protect those workers, who are also renters?

I understand that there are nuances for different local authorities. When you get some information or a sense of the appropriate size, the committee will appreciate hearing about that. The evidence that we heard last week was striking.

I will move on to our next question, which concerns the perspective of tenants. Our panel of tenants told us about the difficulties of accessing social rented housing and of unaffordable private rents. There is concern that the bill will not address housing affordability, as it will not affect existing rent levels, and that it will not address the fundamental problem of the supply of affordable housing. From your perspective, in what ways will the bill address the symptoms of an unbalanced housing system?

If new amendments come, we will potentially do a bit more evidence taking.

Thank you. That is very much appreciated.

Good. I am glad to hear that cross-portfolio working is going on.

I move on to the financial memorandum. COSLA has expressed concern that some elements, including the homelessness prevention duties and rent control aspects, have been significantly underestimated, and a coalition of private rented housing providers has criticised the Government’s response to the Finance and Public Administration Committee, arguing that

“the Minister’s response has misrepresented our legitimate concerns and dismissed the substantial impact of the proposed legislation.”

How can you assure the committee that your approach to developing the financial memorandum has been thorough and appropriate? Will further assessments be needed in light of any Government amendments?

I have a final question. The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee expressed concerns about a number of different powers under the bill, suggesting that there is a need for more detail in the bill itself. I would be interested to hear your response to those concerns. Will you consider putting more detail into the bill with a view to giving tenants, landlords and investors greater certainty?

I said that that would be the last question, but Miles Briggs would like to ask a very brief supplementary question. I will bring him in now.

Thank you for a good morning, minister; it has been useful to get into some of the detail. We look forward to seeing the amendments, and we will consider our approach to our report, given that there will be some amendments that we have not necessarily been able to scrutinise.

As that was our final agenda item to be taken in public, I close the public part of the meeting.

I will bring in Mark Griffin with a few questions.

Can I come back on the encouragement for growth? Last week, the Chartered Institute of Housing said that there is no sense of what size the sector needs to be. Have you been looking at that?