Part of Tenant Fees Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 2:30 pm on 7 June 2018.
Rishi Sunak
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
2:30,
7 June 2018
To respond directly to the two specific points that the hon. Lady raised, I can give her the same assurance that I gave on Clause 1: the exception for insurance can specifically not be a means to require a payment that otherwise would be prohibited by the legislation. The same assurance stands here, and I hope that gives her the reassurance she needs. Secondly, to focus specifically on the clause we are debating, it does not allow letting agents to charge for utilities or communications services, but clause 1 does. The specific reason for that is that the contract would typically be in the name of the landlord and would be a function of the landlord-tenant relationship. That should not be permitted for the letting agent. I assume that she does not think they should be included.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
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During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.