Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, did a great job of channelling the noble Lord, Lord Best. I have two brief points to add to what the noble Baroness said. First, Amendment 139 aims to ensure that all new housing is suitable for people with varying mobility needs. It is a point I often make in relation to disability provision and provision for those in our society who are in some way vulnerable. Making provision that suits the most vulnerable in our society is good for all of us. None of us knows the point at which we might suddenly have to have an operation and need those extra facilities. That should be the standard; it should not be something specially adapted. Secondly, Amendment 152 tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Best, has regard to the housing needs of ageing populations. When we talk about this, we are often thinking about people becoming frail and needing extra support, but “ageing population” means that household sizes become smaller. Perhaps a couple who were living in a four-bedroom house want to move to something smaller. They still have a reasonable amount of available funds, and reasonable mobility. They want a certain class of housing, and your classic so-called luxury flat rental property—with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and tiny rooms—does not meet their needs at all. We need much more flexible housing, and this means thinking about not only frailty but the actual distribution of household sizes across our society.