1. What assessment he has made of the incidence of damp in social housing. (902029)

7. What assessment he has made of the incidence of damp in social housing. (902035)

The latest data that we have from the English housing survey, from 2011-12, indicate that 6.9% of local authority homes and 3.7% of housing association homes had some problem with damp in that year. As a consequence of the 2011-15 spending review, the coalition is investing £2.1 billion to bring social homes up to the decent homes standard.

I draw the House’s attention to my interests as usual.

It is slightly disappointing that the Minister did not refer to a recent survey which indicated that social housing providers—along with Members of Parliament, incidentally—are receiving more and more complaints from people who have damp in their properties because they cannot afford to heat them. As the Minister will know, condensation and damp are a real health problem. What is he doing to ensure that his colleagues in the Department of Energy and Climate Change understand the implications for those families, and do something about them by dealing proactively with energy prices?

Presumably the hon. Lady is referring to a survey of 30 social landlords conducted by the Direct Works Forum, which represents those who carry out repair work of this kind. Given that there are 336 local housing authorities, and many hundreds more housing associations, we shall have to wait and see whether that survey is representative.

Throughout the Government, we understand that fuel poverty is an issue. Both my Department and the Department of Energy and Climate Change are doing their best to drive down household energy costs, and we recently announced that we would reduce energy costs by £50 per household.

Is not one of the problems the bedroom tax, which has meant that people are in arrears and have to choose between paying their rent and paying their energy bills? In Bradford, 2,100 families are suffering because the tax means that they cannot pay their energy bills.

People may have damp in their homes for a great many reasons, but one of the reasons that have been brought to my attention is the amount that has been spent on bringing homes up to a decent standard. The last Government spent a lot of money on that, and the present Government have spent £2.1 billion on it. Paradoxically, the fact that homes are so well insulated can contribute to a dampness problem. Obviously some households also have income problems, but the Government are doing their best to reduce the cost of living per household by lowering council tax and energy bills, and by putting more money into people’s pockets through income tax changes.

When the Government came to office, 70% of the council housing in my constituency was not up to the decent homes standard. Thanks to £21 million-worth of investment from this Government, by 2015 all of it will be. Can my hon. Friend confirm that the Labour Government cut the decent homes programme by £150 million in July 2009? [Interruption.]

I hear an Opposition Member shout “We introduced the decent homes standard”, and that is perfectly true. We often hear from Opposition Members that when it came to expenditure their priority was decent homes rather than the building of new homes, and that is why we had a problem with social housing stock. This coalition Government are bringing houses up to a decent standard, but also have the largest house building programme in the social sector that we have seen for decades.

My hon. Friend is right. One of the main causes of damp in property is condensation. That can be easily be solved by improving ventilation, which is often as simple as opening a window. Some housing authorities give their tenants very good advice. What advice would the Minister give others to ensure that that information gets out there?

I do not think that it is for Ministers to give advice to individual households—therein trouble often lies—but I will say that it is up to local authorities and housing associations to help their tenants with their budgeting as much as possible, in order to deal with welfare reform and other cost pressures.

Condensation, damp and mould in social housing are now at a level that has not been reported by social housing experts for many years. Does the Minister not appreciate that what has changed the situation is the bedroom tax, along with other cuts in the income of people who live in those properties?

Plenty of things have changed since 2010, but this Government are still giving huge priority to bringing homes up to a decent standard. In the next spending review, we are allocating money for that purpose until 2017. By that stage, 99% of houses owned by housing associations, and almost as many local authority houses, will be up to the decent homes standard.