Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

I apologise for not being present when the earlier amendment in my name was called. The Committee went at a surprising speed, which was most unusual. I regret to say that I was quizzing the Chancellor on the state of the economy at a meeting of the Economic Affairs Committee in the room immediately above. This group of amendments follows on from the points made about the previous group, including those of the noble Baroness, Lady Warsi, in concluding her remarks on her amendment. I hope that we can have some further helpful elucidation as a result of the points that I will make. The series of amendments to Clause 25 are intended to provide opportunities for tenants in the private rented sector to be represented in a comparable way to tenants of housing associations and other social landlords under this clause. I must declare my various interests. First, in a purely voluntary capacity, I chair the Private Rented Sector Forum, which brings together representatives of tenants and landlords. I am also a member of the council of the Ombudsman for Estate Agents, which is a non-profit-making body providing a redress scheme not only in relation to sales agents but to lettings agents and managing agents of privately rented property. I am a joint owner with my wife of a rented property and have responsibilities for other rented properties owned by my wife and my sister, and two of my children are tenants of private landlords. I hope that that satisfies all requirements. Clause 25 enables the Secretary of State to establish and assist a body that will represent the interests at national level of housing association tenants in England or to support an existing body to provide that representation. It is clear that the intention is to cover tenants of social landlords as spelt out in Clause 26. Although there is provision for that same representative body also to support, "““tenants of other residential property””," in the amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, it seems that this potential extension of the role of a new organisation may be limited to tenants whose position is akin to that of tenants in social housing—tenants of councils, their arm’s-length management organisations and of other landlords whose property is managed by housing associations on a similar basis. As we have heard, the work is well advanced for the creation of a body to be known as the National Tenant Voice, which will confine itself to representation of tenants from the different parts of the social housing sector. The new body will work closely with the regulator, the Tenant Services Authority created by the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008. When the powers in that Act are used to extend the role of the TSA to cover council tenants, I expect that the National Tenant Voice will see its role enlarged at the same time to embrace those tenants as well. However, while welcoming the progress in lining up a new representative body for this particular group of tenants, my concern is that many of the worst abuses—the most extreme grievances and the most serious complaints—are found in the private rented sector. Indeed, the so-called PRS, which houses many tenants on housing benefit, including homeless families referred by local authorities, contains some of the most vulnerable households in the country. It is possible that one day the remit of the new tenants’ organisation will be extended to embrace private tenants, but for the immediate years ahead it will be kept busy with its important function of championing the requirements, particularly in negotiations with the TSA and the Government, of social housing tenants. Private sector tenants will, therefore, be left out in the cold, yet it is those tenants, not the social housing tenants, who currently have no recourse to any regulator or any redress/ombudsman scheme. My amendments would enable the Secretary of State at any time to set up and support a representative body for tenants in the private rented sector. It is probably desirable that such a body should in due course merge with the National Tenant Voice representing social housing tenants so that one consumer organisation can cover all tenants. At present, however, that is a distant prospect. In the mean time, private tenants have a range of issues on which a body representing their interests would have much to say. Over recent years, the private rented sector has expanded, after decades of decline. Not least through the growth of buy-to-let mortgages, new landlords have entered this field. The recent report from Julie Rugg, of York University, for the Department of Communities and Local Government suggests that there are now 1.2 million landlords in this country. There are more tenants in this sector than there are council tenants or tenants of housing associations. As homeowners find it increasingly difficult to sell their properties, more of them are becoming landlords, albeit often reluctantly, while more home-seekers are turning to the rented sector because the credit crunch means that they cannot buy. Julie Rugg’s report and recent reports for the RICS from Bryan Carsberg and Professor Colin Jones recommend new steps to improve the position of tenants in the private rented sector. At the same time, new problems are arising with schemes for sale and rent-back, where unscrupulous landlords obtain property on terms that are very unfavourable for the occupier. In addition, more private tenants are losing their homes through no fault of their own because their landlords have failed to keep up their mortgage repayments and their properties have been repossessed. Private tenants have an inferior deal to tenants in social housing, whose position is to be further improved by Clauses 25 and 26. They pay higher rents and have much less security of tenure. It seems strange, therefore, that the Bill enhances the support for social housing tenants, but would not, unless the amendments are accepted, allow the Secretary of State to establish comparable arrangements for private tenants. The Minister and his successors in office may soon greatly welcome the chance to do more for the growing number of PRS tenants. I hope, therefore, that the amendments will find favour with your Lordships.