Clause 193 - HMOs: certain converted blocks of flats
Housing Bill
10:00 am
Mr John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings, Conservative)
I intend to deal more fully with amendment standing in my name and those of my hon. Friends, which in part reflects concerns raised by the British Property Federation. It is founded on concern about the change in the Government's thinking on the one-third or two-thirds threshold, which is set out in clause 193. The amendment probes the threshold of owner-occupation of self-contained flats in a converted block of flats. The model schemes being run by a number of local authorities are based on the Government's preferred model—at least, the local authorities believe that. Those models exempt properties if at least one third of the self-contained flats are owner-occupied on long leases. However, in the Bill it is proposed, without any explanation, that that proportion be changed to two thirds. We are probing the point so that the Minister will offer the Committee an explanation.
These are difficult matters, because it is possible that as people move in and out of properties the proportion that is owner-occupied will change. Accordingly, sometimes a property will fall into the category of being necessarily licensed, whereas at another time—perhaps days or weeks later—owing to the movement of tenants, it may not need to be licensed. There is real concern about the threshold and the marginal effects of such changes on the status of the property.
There are further problems with people knowing whether they should be licensed. There are real issues about people understanding the circumstances at any given point, given that such properties can change hands reasonably quickly. There may be uncertainty for both tenants and landlords about whether they fall into the licensable category.
Those are legitimate concerns. The Government need to justify their chosen threshold. I do not hold a candle for any interest group—I listen to all of them, as I am sure the Minister does. The British Property Federation has an important point on which we need further explanation, hence our amendment.