Clause 68 - Designations under section 67:
Housing Bill
11:15 am
Mr Edward Davey (Shadow Secretary of State for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Local Government & the Regions; Kingston and Surbiton, Liberal Democrat)
I am grateful to Shelter for suggesting the amendment, which would lend the clause an important balance. We want to ensure that tenants' rights and opportunities are not harmed in any way when selective licensing is introduced. There was general agreement throughout the Committee on the need for selective licensing areas, for all the reasons that we debated. However, a new licensing regime could result in some landlords evicting tenants and in an increase in homelessness. I am sure that that is not what the Government intend or want. The question is therefore how we ensure a balance so that we do not get a perverse effect.
Whenever a market is regulated, there is always a danger of unintended consequences. We must therefore ensure that the balance is right. I am generally impressed by how well the Government have done in achieving that, but the amendment would
ensure that the balance was well struck in relation to the potential for creating homelessness. The amendments would ensure that a local authority must have regard to its homelessness strategy, which it must create under other legislation, when it is considering designating an area under clause 67. The local authority must also ensure that it can provide advice and assistance to people who might be made homeless as a result of the designation, because a few individuals and families at the margins may suffer as a result of the landlord selling up or may be evicted for some reason.
I hope that the Under-Secretary has no problem with the amendment, which is not very controversial, but I will be interested to hear what she has to say.