Housing occupies a major proportion of my time as MP. I’ve stated before that some 60 or 70 per cent of all the issues I deal with on behalf of constituents are housing-related, whether it is helping to try to get somebody a new house that is more suitable for their circumstances, or help them get repairs to their property. A number of things are very clear to me: first, that housing is absolutely crucial to a person’s or family’s life chances – if they live in good housing, where there is sufficient space for the kids to do homework, or the heating is efficient, their quality of life, including health and educational chances, are raised. The opposite of that, of course, is that poor housing pulls people down. All the statistics show that living in an overcrowded or cold house increases the chances of diseases like asthma, of kids not doing well at school, even of domestic violence.

The second thing is that we haven’t got enough homes in Hartlepool, particularly affordable ones and properties that are suited to our modern society. The population is getting older, for example, and there is a real need in Hartlepool for two-bedroom bungalows for older people. The formal opening this week of the Hartfields retirement village, and the announcement of £3 million of Government money for extra care housing at Orwell Walk shows what is needed, but we still need more. There is also a need for family-sized housing.

I have raised the problems of housing in Parliament in the past. Because it is so important to my work as Hartlepool’s MP, I was particularly pleased to be given the chance by the Prime Minister to be a Housing Minister. In all I do with regards to housing policy, I have the needs of Hartlepool very much at the forefront of my mind.

As housing minister, I have had the responsibility of taking the Housing and Regeneration Bill through its stages in the House of Commons. This ended last Monday night, when the Commons considered the changes to the Bill that the House of Lords wished to put forward. The Bill then went to the Queen, who gave what is known as Royal Assent on Tuesday afternoon. That means that the Housing and Regeneration Bill is now an Act of Parliament.

It is a large and significant piece of legislation. It is intended to help provide more homes, better designed homes, and homes which are more environmentally friendly. It creates a new organisation, the Homes and Communities Agency, which will have something like £8.4 billion to spend on land and housing. I aim to see the Agency will work closely with local councils to help identify suitable sites for housing and regeneration and providing grants to councils and housing associations to help them acquire land and build houses. With this amount of financial clout, we should be able to see more homes built in all parts of the country, including Hartlepool, and in spite of the difficulties currently experienced by the house builders.

The second large part of the Act is designed to help social housing tenants, people who in this town may live in properties owned by such housing associations as Housing Hartlepool or Endeavour Housing. The Act brings into being the Tenant Service Authority, which will help to raise standards and ensure that tenants have more choice and influence in matters relating to their housing. This is an important part of the Act for me: I want to tenants being able to receive an excellent service and have matters like rent levels and repairs closely examined so that they as tenants are included even more in the decision-making process.

So I’m pleased that we have managed to make the Housing and Regeneration Bill an Act of Parliament before the summer, which means that housing and tenants improvements will be up and running and making a difference that bit earlier. I’m also pleased that it has the experience of Hartlepool people running all the way through it, so that it reflects the housing needs of the town and puts in place measures to help to solve the problems.

Housing occupies a major proportion of my time as MP. I’ve stated before that some 60 or 70 per cent of all the issues I deal with on behalf of constituents are housing-related, whether it is helping to try to get somebody a new house that is more suitable for their circumstances, or help them get repairs to their property. A number of things are very clear to me: first, that housing is absolutely crucial to a person’s or family’s life chances – if they live in good housing, where there is sufficient space for the kids to do homework, or the heating is efficient, their quality of life, including health and educational chances, are raised. The opposite of that, of course, is that poor housing pulls people down. All the statistics show that living in an overcrowded or cold house increases the chances of diseases like asthma, of kids not doing well at school, even of domestic violence.

The second thing is that we haven’t got enough homes in Hartlepool, particularly affordable ones and properties that are suited to our modern society. The population is getting older, for example, and there is a real need in Hartlepool for two-bedroom bungalows for older people. There is also a need for family-sized housing.

I have raised the problems of housing in Parliament in the past. Because it is so important to my work as Hartlepool’s MP, I was particularly pleased by the Prime Minister to be a Housing Minister. In all I do with regards to housing policy, I have the needs of Hartlepool very much at the forefront of my mind.

As housing minister, I have had the responsibility of taking the Housing and Regeneration Bill through its stages in the House of Commons. This ended on Monday night, when the Commons considered the changes to the Bill that the House of Lords wished to put forward. The Bill then went to the Queen, who gave what is known as Royal Assent on Tuesday afternoon. That means that the Housing and Regeneration Bill is now an Act of Parliament.

It is a large and significant piece of legislation. It is intended to help provide more homes, better designed homes, and homes which are more environmentally friendly. It creates a new organisation, the Homes and Communities Agency, which will have something like £8.4 billion to spend on land and housing. I aim to see the Agency will work closely with local councils to help identify suitable sites for housing and regeneration and providing grants to councils and housing associations to help them acquire land and build houses.

The second large part of the Act is designed to help social housing tenants, people who in this town may live in properties owned by Housing Hartlepool or Endeavour Housing Association. The Act brings into being the Tenant Service Authority, which will help to raise standards and ensure that tenants have more choice and influence in matters relating to their housing. This is an important part of the Act for me: I want to tenants being able to receive an excellent service and have matters like rent levels and repairs closely examined so that they are included in the decision-making process.

So I’m pleased that we have managed to make the Housing and Regeneration Bill an Act of Parliament before the summer, which means that housing and tenants matters will be up and running and making a difference that bit earlier. I’m also pleased that it has the experience of Hartlepool people running all the way through it, so that it reflects the housing needs of the town and puts in place measures to help to solve the problems.

As part of a drive to highlight the positive contribution bingo can play to keep the mind active, Carlton Bingo invited Iain Wright MP to visit their club in Hartlepool during Dementia Awareness week to call a charity prize game.

Bingo players at Carlton Hartlepool will put the new bingo caller through his paces on Friday (11th July), when he took to the microphone to call the numbers and over £80.00 was raised for the Alzheimer’s Society.
The charity game was held to mark Alzheimer’s Awareness Week (6-12th July) and to highlight the role bingo can play in staving off the onset of dementia.
Iain met players before the game and said, “Meeting the players and staff today and having the chance to raise some money for the Alzheimer’s Society was a great way of highlighting the impact of dementia on families throughout Hartlepool.
Dementia affects thousands of people every year and can be devastating for those left to care for their loved ones during the most difficult of times. Hopefully through initiatives like this we can develop a greater understanding of dementia and do more for those people diagnosed and their friends and families.”
The Alzheimer’s Society calculates that around 417,000 people have dementia in the UK. There are around 15,000 people under the age of 65 with dementia in the UK, although this figure is likely to be an underestimate.
John Cowlishaw, is the Manager of Carlton Hartlepool and he said: “Players and staff at Carlton Hartlepool were delighted that our local MP, Iain Wright, was able to join us for this special event.”
“Research shows that taking part in activities like bingo exercises the mind, boosts your brain power and can stave off the onset of dementia.”
He added:
“The response of our players to the charity game was excellent and I know that many of them were only too pleased to see their local MP up their calling the numbers in support of this important cause.

To find out more about how to stave off dementia you can call the Dementia 24 hour Helpline on 0808 808 3000.