division_name: Opposition Day &#8212; [5th Allotted Day] &#8212; Housing
motion: <p class="" pid="b.300.2/1" pwmotiontext="yes">I beg to move,</p>
  
  <p class="" pid="b.300.2/2" pwmotiontext="yes">That this House notes that England faces a housing crisis; further notes with concern that housing starts, including for affordable housing, are down, and that homelessness and rough sleeping have increased under this Government; further notes that the collapse in house building and contraction in construction are a major cause of the double-dip recession; believes that the Government needs to take urgent action to get the economy and house building going again; and calls on the Government to introduce a tax on bankers&#8217; bonuses to fund the building of 25,000 additional affordable homes, to bring forward infrastructure investment, including for housing, and to cut VAT on home improvements, repairs and maintenance to five per cent for one year to help homeowners and create jobs.</p>
  
  <p class="" pid="b.310.2/1" pwmotiontext="yes">I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from &#8220;House&#8221; to the end of the Question and add:</p>
  
  <p class="" pid="b.310.2/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;welcomes the first Opposition Day debate on housing in this Parliament; notes that house building under the previous administration fell to its lowest peacetime level since the 1920s; further notes that house building starts in England were 29 per cent higher in 2011 compared with 2009; believes there is still more to do to get Britain building; further notes that housing is the most affordable for first-time buyers for a decade and mortgage payments are the lowest since 1997 as a direct consequence of the decisive action to tackle the deficit brought about by the previous administration; notes that the Coalition Government&#8217;s affordable housing programme will deliver 170,000 affordable homes by 2015 and leverage &#163;19.5 billion of investment; and welcomes the steps being taken to increase house building and unlock stalled sites and the comprehensive programme to get empty homes back into productive use.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p pid="b.344.2/1" pwmotiontext="yes">Ayes 222, Noes 297.</p>