Clause 67 - Designation of selective licensing areas
Housing Bill
10:30 am
Mr John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 308, in
clause 67, page 45, line 3, at end insert—
'(d) the number of occupiers that are not British passport holders'.
The amendment is designed to add to the criteria that a local authority must take into account when deciding whether an area is, or is likely to become, an area of low housing demand. I had two situations in mind when tabling the amendment. The first—it will be familiar to members of the Committee, as it affects various parts of the country—is of landlords who ''specialise'' in housing vulnerable people who may be temporary visitors to the United Kingdom. I think, for example, of people seeking asylum and others who are not UK passport holders and who may not necessarily be in a position to represent their own interests as effectively as one would wish, because they are not familiar with their entitlements. They are people with temporary permission to be here for various reasons—work is a good example.