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• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 24 October 2007

It is very good to see a clear commitment in the Housing Strategy, not just to deal with these issues of supply/quantity, but also address issues of quality. Perhaps one issue that Dee has left out of that long list of points about diverse supply etc, is the question of lifetime homes. Now, there was very clear statement in the London Plan, and it is here again in the Housing Strategy, that we would like basically to see all new homes meet a lifetime home standard and we would like to see a significant number - 10%, I think -...

• Question by: Dee Doocey
• Meeting date: 24 October 2007

No, but the Mayor can make representations to the Government to try and explain that there is no point having a strategy that says, 'Boroughs will look after HMOs and will monitor them' if there is no money in order for them to do it. So, what I am asking is that the Mayor is much more proactive in pushing central government for local government's case, for them to get some more money, and working much more in tandem with boroughs, rather than at the moment there tends to be certainly a perception that the Mayor is one side and...

• Question by: Dee Doocey
• Meeting date: 24 October 2007

My concern about this whole thing - the overall concern - is that I think it is very easy to say, 'We have decided that boroughs should do (a), (b), (c) and (d)'. It sounds good: 'We will therefore say we will have 50% of this and 70/30 mix', but if boroughs do not have the money in order to do this, there is no point saying, 'The Mayor's Strategy is that the boroughs will deliver', because the boroughs really do need money in order to deliver. With the best will in the world they cannot do it if they...

• Question by: Dee Doocey
• Meeting date: 24 October 2007

Surely the emphasis ought to be on providing better accommodation for older people, which might persuade them to move on from under-occupying homes - one in four homes in London are under-occupied - and therefore trying to free up at the top, which will eventually free up at the bottom, for the hostels? There does not seem to be too much emphasis on that. I am concerned that nothing that you have said has led me to believe that the problem is going to be addressed, of people with mental problems in hostels not having appropriate support and accommodation.

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 24 October 2007

Do you think the Mayor would be interested in seeing the housing association sector restructured somewhat in London, to avoid some of the problems of lack of economies of scale and fragmentation that we see at the moment that undermine the quality of housing and estate management?

• Question by: Dee Doocey
• Meeting date: 24 October 2007

Sorry, can I cut in, Neale. I do not accept what you are saying because, again, you are saying the same thing: it is up to boroughs to provide the revenue. Boroughs are squeezed all the time on funding and if they have not got the money they cannot provide the revenue, and just putting in a strategy that says, 'boroughs will provide it', is not going to help. Can I move on to overcrowding. You talked about overcrowding in your opening remarks. I think the estimate is that there are 260,000 children in homes that have got not enough...

• Question by: Dee Doocey
• Meeting date: 24 October 2007

I have got very little time left, so can I finally ask you about student accommodation. There was very little in the Strategy about what the Mayor is doing about student accommodation in London. I am sure you are aware that young people are at risk from things like dodgy wiring, faulty gas heaters and cowboy landlords. Is the Mayor working with student union representatives and universities to address this?

• Question by: Dee Doocey
• Meeting date: 24 October 2007

Sorry, I was asking is he putting pressure on central government to do so.

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 24 October 2007

Neale, you missed out housing cooperatives. They are based on mutuality. They are an obvious model for intermediate housing, particular for young people.

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 24 October 2007

Just one more point: the Tenant Management Organisation (TMOs). The Mayor will have responsibility for the Decent Homes programmes now, I understand. Presumably he will be keener on TMOs than going through local authorities, because of their involvement in the management. As Val said, the issue of quality of service is as important as the quantity of housing available.