Clause 193 - HMOs: certain converted blocks of flats
Housing Bill
10:15 am
Mr Matthew Green (Shadow Minister, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Local Government & the Regions; Ludlow, Liberal Democrat)
Never does a day pass in which the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings does not have a dig at the Liberal Democrats. He must be worried about us.
The Minister has reassured me that a local authority could seek additional licensing for blocks of flats in which less than a third of the occupants are tenants. That is a reassurance for tenants in such a situation, which will occur primarily in large cities. I hope that the Minister will make it clear to local authorities whose areas are likely to contain such
properties that they can go down that route. Local authorities might not otherwise realise that there are other means of dealing with the buildings with 30 or 40 tenants that are excluded from the Bill.
The hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings raises an interesting point about properties moving above or below the threshold. There is probably no correct answer to that problem: a threshold of some sort is inevitable. However, the Government should consider the possibility of the owner of a large block of flats attempting to get out of licensing by engaging in lots of long leases, perhaps to other members of the family.
I am somewhat reassured by the Minister's comments. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Clause 193 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clauses 194 and 195 ordered to stand part of the Bill.