Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Empey Excerpts

Monday 28th April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Empey (UUP)]

My Lords, in previous contributions to the Committee, I made the point that our objective should be to increase supply and simultaneously reduce demand. I think we are now facing a situation in which we are doing everything in our power to decrease supply. The amendments tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, and the noble Baronesses, Lady Thornhill and Lady Scott, are all basically meritorious in their own way, but they are all trying to solve a problem that we foresee. It does not have to be thought about as something that may happen as a remote possibility: it is almost a certainty and therefore has to be addressed.

There are other things that I think the Government are doing that are decreasing supply. The prospect of a landlord entering into the relationship with a tenant is even further off-put by these measures in the uncertainty that they could be left with no income for very long periods of time and tenants could find themselves stranded if they cannot go to a court and have the thing settled.

I also raised with the Minister the ECHR implications. There is yet another matter that is arising: there are reports that the Government are effectively talking out of both sides of their mouth at once. Here they are telling us that we have to get rid of Section 21 as we do not want agreed-term tenancies; on the other hand, it appears that the Government are going to landlords and offering them up to five-year tenancies if they house asylum seekers. You cannot have it both ways. The Minister told me that you could not discriminate between one tenant and another, but in fact that is precisely what we are doing. We are introducing a new class of tenant—a tenant who is in a superior position to the ordinary tenants we have at the moment. There is a great deal of uncertainty around this. Common sense dictates that this matter of the courts has to be addressed, and the very fact that we are having to burden the courts with our legislation tells us that perhaps there is something fundamentally wrong with this in the first place.

[Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con)]

My Lords, I speak in support of Amendments 279 and 280 in the name of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Etherton, who is unfortunately unable to be in his place today. I hoped to have added my name to them, but I think I got to the Public Bill Office after the Marshalled List had gone to print. These amendments, together with others in this group, address an issue that is central to the Bill: the capacity of the courts. I declare at the outset my interest as somebody who benefits from rental income from residential property, as set out in the register.

--- Later in debate ---

How these arrangements interact with the Renters’ Rights Bill will depend on the nature of the commercial agreement between the Home Office and Serco and on whether the accommodation being provided to asylum seekers amounts to an assured tenancy—which, of course, is the subject matter of the Bill. As I say, I do not have details of the progress that the Home Office is making on this, but I am happy to write to noble Lords on that point. Therefore, I would ask that the amendment is withdrawn.

[Lord Empey (UUP)]

Will the Minister agree to write to us about the Home Office and place a copy in the Library? Additionally, the Minister said on the previous day in Committee that she did not want to see different classes of tenant. How is it possible to have this Bill on the statute book and at the same time have the proposed Serco arrangements in operation without creating two classes of tenant?