Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Government amendments 12 to 21.

Schedule 2.

Clause 29 stand part.

The Renters’ Rights Bill makes some significant changes to legislation, such as abolishing section 21 notices, assured shorthold tenancies and fixed-term tenancies. This means that there are references that need to be removed and changes needed to ensure that the wider stature book remains in good order.

Clause 28 sets out that those consequential amendments to existing legislation are made in schedule 2 of this Bill. Schedule 2 makes consequential changes to a number of Acts of Parliament to reflect the abolition of assured shorthold tenancies, fixed-term assured tenancies and no-fault evictions. They ensure that existing legislation can continue to operate after our reforms to the tenancy system have taken place, and they are predominantly minor and technical in nature. For example, our amendments to the Housing Act 2004 in paragraph 45 are simply repeals of legislation that prevented landlords using section 21 to evict tenants from an unlicensed HMO. We have amended the Housing Act 1985 and the Localism Act 2011 to reflect the abolition of demoted tenancies, where social housing tenants can be “demoted” to less secure assured shorthold tenancies, as ASTs will no longer exist.

In paragraph 48 of schedule 2, we have also repealed provisions in the Deregulation Act 2015 that outlawed retaliatory evictions via section 21 as this legislation will cease to have that effect after the Renters’ Rights Bill is implemented. In paragraphs 1 to 7, we have made amendments to the Reserve and Auxiliary Forces (Protection of Civil Interests) Act 1951 to ensure that mobilised reservists’ tenancies continue to be protected. From those examples, the Committee will see that the changes that schedule 2 makes are technical and uncontroversial, ensuring the statute book continues to operate effectively and consistently after our reforms to the tenancy system.

I also draw the Committee’s attention to paragraphs 32 and 35 of schedule 2, which relate to the homelessness prevention duty. The removal of section 21 means that local authorities will no longer owe a homelessness prevention duty to someone served with a section 21 notice, as they will have been abolished. The Bill will replace the references to section 21 in respect of the prevention duty with references to section 8, meaning that anyone served with a valid section 8 eviction notice for any ground with a specified date of within 56 days will automatically be owed a prevention duty. Moreover, changes will be made to ensure that the duty cannot be ended simply by the local authority having met the duty for 56 days. This will ensure consistency in approach and that tenants maintain access to support to prevent homelessness, in line with the principles of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.

As I said in my evidence to the Committee, we are aware that the changes will broaden the scope of the prevention duty, as previously such protections were afforded only to those served with a valid section 21 notice that expired within 56 days. As I committed to last week, we will carry out a new burdens assessment and provide local authorities with funding for any additional costs.

Clause 29 gives the Secretary of State the power to make regulations to adapt other legislation and private legal instruments to account for changes made by the Bill or its associated regulations. This power is required to facilitate a smooth transition to the new tenancy system. It will ensure that relevant legislation and private legal instruments can continue to function as intended, and that existing rights and duties are not jeopardised as a result of the transition to the new system. That could include, for example, mortgage agreements that require the use of assured shorthold tenancies. Without action, mortgages in such circumstances will not be able to comply with the terms, as the Bill abolishes ASTs.

On Government Amendment 12, section 25 of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973 introduced what is commonly referred to as the 90-day rule. It was enacted to protect housing supply in London for the benefit of permanent residents by preventing the conversion of family homes into short-term lets. We often debate the problems of excessive concentrations of short-term lets in rural and coastal settings, but they are also of particular concern in many urban constituencies.

The changes to the tenancy system introduced by the Bill will mean it will be possible for a tenant to give notice at the beginning of a tenancy and leave before staying for 90 consecutive nights. In practice, we think this will happen very rarely, but where it does, a landlord could be found to have unintentionally breached planning legislation by inadvertently providing temporary sleeping accommodation, and consequently face financial penalties. That is clearly not the intention of the initial legislation or this Bill. As such, amendment 12 will exempt assured tenancies from the 90-day rule, meaning that when a property is let on an assured tenancy and the tenant leaves before 90 consecutive nights, that will not automatically equate to a material change of use for the purposes of section 25 and landlords will not be disadvantaged.

Government amendments 13 to 21 will ensure that the statute book functions effectively following the removal of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21, and other changes made by part 1 of the Bill. In some cases, changes need to be more substantial to reflect the updated tenancy system. For example, we have made changes to empty dwelling management orders through Government amendment 19. In that case, the removal of references to assured shorthold tenancies without making further amendments would have effectively neutered these tools for local authorities to bring empty dwellings back into use. Our changes will allow local authorities to grant an assured tenancy to a property under a final EDMO, whereas previously they would only have been able to grant an assured shorthold tenancy more than six months before the expiry of the order, thereby facilitating the use of section 21.

Other changes we are making include, for example, the changes that Government amendment 14 makes to succession rights to reflect the abolition of assured fixed-term tenancies, ensuring tenants’ rights. Government amendment 20 amends the Localism Act 2011 to ensure that mutual exchanges in social housing operate in the light of the changes the Bill makes to the tenancy system, once assured shorthold tenancies are abolished and existing ASTs are converted into periodic tenancies.

Most other changes are minor and technical in nature, ensuring that the rest of the statute book is coherent and continues to function. Government amendment 21 repeals sections of the Localism Act that inserted sections into the Housing Act 2004, which are being replaced by the Bill and are therefore spent provisions. I commend the provisions to the Committee.

I commend the Government for the work they are doing to ensure that the statute book lines up across all the different pieces of legislation. Will the Minister inform the Committee how the changes to the homelessness prevention duty will impact on tenants who have no recourse to public funds in the UK?

I commend the Shadow Minister for challenging me on those points. I do not have that answer to hand, so I will commit to come back to him in writing on that specific point.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 28 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.