Meeting of the Parliament 04 October 2022
I am afraid that I need to finish up in the next minute or two.
The power will be subject to affirmative procedure, ensuring that appropriate parliamentary scrutiny is given to the necessity for any temporary changes proposed.
Finally, on the general provisions, we are seeking to commence the bill the day after it receives royal assent. We propose the flexibility to extend the provisions in part 1 for two subsequent six-month periods, if the Parliament agrees, and that the powers in part 3 on rent adjudication will expire at the end of March 2024, with the option of extending them by periods of up to one year. There will be powers to suspend and revive the provisions in part 1 and powers to expire those provisions earlier than 31 March. Similar to the coronavirus legislation, there will be a requirement to review and report on the necessity and proportionality of the provisions in part 1, and ministers will be required to bring forward regulations to suspend or expire any provision that is no longer appropriate.
In conclusion, we are bringing forward the emergency legislation in recognition of the fact that people who rent their homes are—right now—being hit the hardest by an extraordinary cost crisis. The bill’s primary purpose is to provide the protection that is necessary for tenants while also recognising the circumstances of landlords. The bill significantly strengthens the protection against unwarranted rent rises and eviction, it sends a strong signal to landlords about the damages that can be awarded for unlawful eviction and it provides a bridge into the longer-term reforms that I set out in the new deal for tenants last December.
The safeguards in the bill provide a total package of fair and robust measures. This is a Government that is confronting the cost crisis head-on; a Government that is giving people stability in their homes and assurance about their rents—in sharp contrast with those who want to cut taxes for the wealthiest and let bankers’ bonuses soar.