Renters’ Rights Bill
Lord Cashman Excerpts(1 week, 3 days ago)
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Lord Cashman
“Residential boat fees to be classified as rentThe rights set out in Part 1 of this Act extend to any individual—(a) for whom a boat is their only home, and(b) who is liable to pay a boat licence fee, boat registration fee, boat rental fee or mooring charges.”
Lord Cashman (Non-Afl)
My Lords, I apologise for racing here like a 15 year-old. I was under the impression that there was another Urgent Question, but there is no excuse.
Your Lordships will be pleased to hear that this is my first contribution in Committee, although I raised this issue at Second Reading. In moving Amendment 206A, I shall also speak to Amendments 262 and 271. While this is my first intervention, I am all too aware of the complexity of the Bill, so it is right that I give my gratitude to the clerks of your Lordships’ House who have advised me on how to proceed from the very beginning. Initially, it was my intention to bring forward one amendment to address the absence of rights and protections for permanent houseboat residents, those people who live permanently on houseboats along the rivers and inland waterways of the United Kingdom. After further advice, we have three amendments.
I am also grateful for the help I have received from Abbie North and Caroline Hunter from the University of York, Pamela Smith of the National Bargee Travellers Association and houseboat residents around the country. I am also particularly grateful to the noble Lords, Lord Young of Cookham and Lord Best, and the noble Baroness, Lady Miller of Chilthorne Domer, for their support and for adding their names to my amendments.
I believe that the amendments are straightforward in what they request, but I recognise that they could be complicated in their implementation. Amendment 262, calling for a review from the Secretary of State, I consider to be entirely reasonable, and I will consider returning to it at a later stage if there is no movement from the Government or commitment to it or its principles. I thank the Minister and her team and officials for requesting to meet me when I had, interestingly, just one amendment tabled. It was a frank, good-humoured discussion, and I am aware of the good faith concern that exists, but I was deeply disappointed to learn that such a reasonable amendment calling for a review could not be accepted and would, it was said, drain resources cross-departmentally. Amendment 262 is a perfectly reasonable ask, specifically since this issue has been shunted into the sidings by successive Governments since 2005, despite frequently being raised in another place and in your Lordships’ House.
These amendments address a series of wrongs that need to be righted. Relying solely on the Financial Conduct Authority and the tenuous protections of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 is an insult to houseboat residents and just does not work. They need security of tenure and basic rights, hence the amendments.
The need for legislative action is becoming urgent. The rights and protections afforded by this Bill and other Acts of Parliament should apply to residential houseboat residents because they have tenancies and agreements for their moorings, a mooring fixed to a pier or the riverbank. They have to abide by all the obligations of residents within their local environment; additionally, they pay council tax, energy bills, water bills and insurance, but they are missing statutory rights and protections. They have even fewer protections when the owners of moorings propose increases to mooring fees, develop the site or, in some cases, refuse to renew licences.
The problem is growing. It is happening across the country, from Vauxhall to Chelsea to the Isle of Wight, in Manchester and Brentford and along the rivers and canals of the United Kingdom. Indeed, it is happening in Southwark. One solicitor specialising in this area said the calls are increasing monthly. We need these amendments. The calls are from people now facing not only eviction from their moorings but having to physically move their homes. They must take their homes with them or abandon them. She told me that these calls are often coming from vulnerable people, including disabled people who pay council tax and have leased residential moorings.
I am grateful of the South Dock Marina Berth Holders’ Association in Southwark for bringing its plight to my attention. Currently, plans are before the council that could force out residents, businesses and community hubs and demolish the entire site, a site providing marine facilities to more than 200 boats and more than 300 marina residents, which is further proof of the need for government action. I quote SDMBHA:
“Boaters have no legislative protection from exorbitant rises in mooring fees. Boaters have no security of tenure and are increasingly facing existential threats to their way of life which means that these communities and increasingly Boat communities across the entire country are experiencing huge existential threats”.
Southwark Council, which owns the site, has decided to look again, but the development threat hangs over yet another community of boat dwellers.
Time and again, I believe that Governments have dismissed these overlooked and often forgotten people. The excuse was that more evidence was needed. Well, it is there. I have outlined some of the evidence. The problem is growing and, as I said, will not be wished away. As homes become more difficult to rent and impossible to buy, people will turn to alternative sources, as we have seen with mobile homes and boats. People need places where they can live. The right to a home, a place in which to rest one’s head is a basic human right. Perhaps those who cannot afford to buy a place in London but may have some money will be tempted by one of the adverts at Limehouse Marina and elsewhere that encourage people to buy their floating home from £250,000 upwards, with flexible moorings, without security of tenure.
I have gone on longer than I intended. I know that the Minister, is sympathetic, but now is the time for action. The time for commitment is now. Therefore, I say to the Minister, if not now, when? There must be no attempt to kick this into the long grass again. Let us not say that we cannot do it because a mixture of different departments needs to deal with it or there are not enough resources. If the resources are not there now, when will they be? Meanwhile, evictions and homelessness among these communities will continue to increase. This needs political will and intention. I urge the Government, at the very least, to commit, within the legislation, to bring forward the review that I request from the Secretary of State. We can compromise on the length of time, but let us have a commitment to get it done. Let us deal with and recognise the needs of these people before these shameful situations turn into a national scandal. I beg to move.
Baroness Whitaker (Lab)
My Lords, I apologise for not being able to speak at Second Reading of this very welcome Bill, which will return that most valuable public good—security in one’s home—to so many people. I support all the amendments in this group and will speak to Amendments 206B and 275A, in my name and that of the noble Lord, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, whom I thank for his support. I thank Friends Families & Travellers and Garden Court Chambers for their expect advice, and declare various positions in relevant organisations, as set out in the register. I am also most grateful to the Public Bill Office for sorting out some last-minute corrections so rapidly.
Lord Cashman (Non-Afl)
My Lords, this has been a very worthwhile and effective debate. Not for the first time in my short 30 years in politics, I think we have won the arguments but have lost the vote—should it ever be called.
I thank all noble Lords for their interventions. I hope noble Lords will forgive me if I pick out three of those who I call my friends—the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, and the noble Lords, Lord Young and Lord Best—for their very early guidance and support to me on this issue. The noble Earl, Lord Lytton, is right about the problems with what I am proposing. Indeed, the courts have exercised themselves greatly over the issue of land and chattels in relation to boats and fixings to piers. Arguably, that is why we need a clear definition and clear protections in law.
I associate myself with the other amendments in this group because I want to see more protections afforded to people, not fewer. Of course, I am disappointed by the Minister’s response. I expected more; I always expect more. I come from a profession—I have almost forgotten as it was many, many years ago—in which, if there was a problem, we went into a room and used our imagination to solve that problem, or at least to come up with suggestions for how to solve it. If, as politicians, in government and in opposition, we adopted the same process, people might forgive us more when we fail because our intention is to succeed for all the best reasons.
Of course, there are unintended consequences. I am told it fills lawyers’ pockets when such laws are passed and that happens. There are unintended consequences—the consequences of doing nothing. When I withdraw this amendment, those consequences will be the continuation of people being evicted from their homes, caravans and boats. The evictions and homelessness will be accompanied by families in despair. Having said that, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Renters’ Rights Bill
Lord Cashman Excerpts(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Lord Cashman (Non-Afl)
My Lords, as a non-affiliated Member of your Lordships’ House I congratulate the Government on the Bill before us. Having listened to the contributions thus far, wiser counsel will come from other noble Lords on improving and revising the legislation. I can only offer a narrow but, I believe, important perspective on an overlooked sector.
I particularly wish to associate myself with the comments and contributions of the noble Baroness, Lady Lister of Burtersett. I also heartily congratulate my friend, the noble Lord, Lord Wilson of Sedgefield, on a deeply moving and important maiden speech, along with the noble Baroness, Lady Brown of Silvertown. She reminded me of Silvertown, where my mother used to buy second-hand clothes for us as children from Rathbone Street market. Their contributions gave us memories that empower us, especially when dealing with legislation that is to effect positive social change.
As I have said, I am no expert in this field, but as the Minister will know, I have taken a keen interest in the paucity of rights for people who live in houseboats. I declare a personal interest in that friends of mine are currently moored at Chelsea and are deeply affected by developments there. I am grateful to the Library for the extensive research that it undertook on my behalf in relation to the rights, or rather lack of rights, of houseboat dwellers. My focus is residential houseboats moored on the Thames and other inland waterways in England and Wales, and not canal boats, which are currently part of a review being undertaken.
I have been informed by colleagues in the other place and the Minister, for whom I have the highest regard, that a simple amendment which would extend the rights enjoyed by mobile homes under the Mobile Homes Act 2013, which amended previous legislation, would fall outside of the scope of the Bill before us. I am grateful to the clerks for their initial advice, but I take this opportunity to inform the Minister and others that I will return to this subject and, I hope, with an amendment that achieves the necessary protections and falls within the scope of the Bill.
I believe that the rights and protections afforded by this Bill and other Acts of Parliament apply to residents of houseboats because such houseboats have tenancies. Their licences are precisely that: a means of renting mooring fixed either to a pier or to the riverbank. Yet those living on houseboats have absolutely no security of tenure. Although they pay council tax, energy bills, water bills and insurance bills, they do not have the same statutory rights as other tenants. This must be addressed. They have no protections when the owners of moorings propose to increase fees or, more worryingly, as we have seen at Chelsea, little redress when the owners of moorings propose not only to increase fees or develop the sites but to refuse to renew their licences or, indeed, review their tenancies. The situation faced by houseboat owners and residents is not dissimilar to that faced by mobile home residents, but while there is now legislation designed to provide some protections to mobile home residents, there is nothing designed to apply to residential houseboats.
That is the sad reality facing houseboat owners at Chelsea Reach, a historic community that dates back to the 1930s, and other sites that have faced or are about to face development or disappearance. This scenario is played out on moorings the length and breadth of the country as people fight to retain their homes and, if and when they are evicted or are unable to remain because of excessive increases in charges and licence fees, have to physically remove their homes and often dispose of them.
Previous Governments have declared that the issue is not “big enough” to legislate for and that it is not widespread. However, the problem is spreading as developers circle sites; the problem will grow, and evictions and homelessness will grow with it. From Vauxhall to Chelsea, to the Isle of Wight and beyond, people have had to face the choice of battling through the courts, with all the costs that go with it, for basic protections or quitting their moorings and taking their homes with them—or, in some instances, taking a sledgehammer to the interior of their houseboat to prevent the bailiffs taking the property.
There is a moral imperative for the Government to take action. I will not go on at length, but it is enough to say that it is often necessary to take preventive action to stop a small wrongdoing from becoming widespread. I urge the Government to work with me and others—and I ask the Minister for that assurance—to see how we can amend the Bill to afford the same rights to those houseboat owners and residents as afforded to those covered by the Mobile Homes Act 2013.
In conclusion, let us extend those basic rights, with the accompanying criteria, so that people can enjoy permanent and ongoing tenancies; security of tenure; protection from harassment; written agreements; conditions of residence; and pitch fee protection. I contend that what I am asking for on behalf of others is reasonable and moderate. I ask the Government to commit to delivering these basic rights to these forgotten and often overlooked residents.
Housebuilding Targets
Lord Cashman Excerpts(5 months, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
We are taking a number of steps to encourage the use of SME building companies. Homes England has considerable control of the funding for affordable homes, and we have encouraged it to break down the packages on large sites so that they are suitable for SME builders. We will be providing funding to support SME housebuilders as well. In relation to skills, I refer to my earlier answer. They apply equally to the smaller builders in the sector as they do to large housebuilders.
Lord Cashman (Non-Afl)
My Lords, housebuilding is part of the process of dealing with those who are homeless. However, I have deep concerns about the range of evictions, particularly those faced by houseboat owners and residents. I have already raised this issue with the Government. What plans do they have, if any, to deal with the appalling eviction notices faced by people the length and breadth of the country, particularly at Chelsea, an historic site where people are now being forced from their homes—houseboats—where they have lived for decades?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
I am grateful to my noble friend for raising this important issue, on which he wrote to me this morning. I do not have an answer for him yet, but I will write to him on that subject. I drove past the site at Chelsea the other day, and the driver mentioned to me that this was a big issue in that area. If my noble friend will bear with me while I get a written response for him, I will give him a full answer.