A Labour peer has slammed the government for failing to listen to expert politicians and its unwillingness to adopt amendments to the Renters’ Rights Bill.
During the report stage debate, Lord Hacking questioned why only three amendments had been accepted out of the 300 or so that were tabled in committee.
“By applying normal averages, it cannot be right that the government were always right in committee on all these amendments and that the rest of us were always wrong,” said Lord Hacking, who explained how he had rented out five one-bedroom flats for the last 30 years.
“There was considerable expertise in landlord and tenant matters among members of the House - at least half a dozen of us were declared landlords of the good and honest variety.
“To put it bluntly, the rejection of over 300 amendments shows that they are not listening to this House.”
Lord Hacking said the government’s insistence on ending fixed-term tenancies was a fundamental breach of English contract law. He explained how his amendment – which he was forced to withdraw – had sought to allow landlords and tenants to agree a fixed-term tenancy.
“We have nearly always let 12-month tenancies to our tenants,” he said. “After the first 12 months, we meet to discuss whether our tenants want to stay on for another 12 months; they sometimes want to stay on for three or four years or even longer. If any of them want to go early, within the 12-month period, we give full co-operation.”
Housing Minister Baroness Taylor of Stevenage said like all good and honest landlords, Lord Hacking had nothing to fear from the Bill. She added: “Fixed terms are a blight, and they - along with Section 21 - must be consigned to history.”
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