Part of Renters’ Rights Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 2:30 pm on 5 November 2024.
Claire Hazelgrove
Labour, Filton and Bradley Stoke
2:30,
5 November 2024
I rise to speak in support of new Clause 8, tabled by my hon. Friend Helen Hayes, who is not a Committee member. The new clause would provide protection for bereaved guarantors by prohibiting the application of a guarantor agreement in the event of the death of a tenant. My hon. Friend was motivated to table the new clause following the tragic case of her constituents who lost their son to suicide.
The young man was a first-year university student who had signed a private tenancy for his second-year accommodation. Very sadly, he died by suicide months before the new tenancy was due to start. His parents had signed a guarantor agreement that applied in the event of the tenant’s death, and while they were grieving the loss of their son, the letting agent pursued them for the rent on the property in which he would never live. That type of clause is not common to all guarantor agreements, and it is entirely unnecessary, because the loss of rental income due to the death of a tenant is an insurable risk for landlords.
New clause 8 would prevent guarantor agreements from applying in the event of the death of a tenant. It has been tightly drafted with the assistance of lawyers from Shelter. My hon. Friend is extremely grateful to the Minister for his positive engagement on the issue, both prior to the General Election and subsequently. Although I do not seek to press the new clause to a vote, I hope the Minister will be able to give assurances either that the Government will accept the new clause or introduce an Amendment to the Bill to the same effect.
I hope we can all agree that no one who is grieving the loss of a person for whom they have acted as a guarantor should be pursued for that person’s rent. That small change in the law would prevent the distress that was caused to my hon. Friend’s constituents from happening to anyone else.
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A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
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.
