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Housing and Regeneration Bill

I have a number of amendments in the group, but I will not speak to Amendment No. 108ZBA. There have been several exchanges with the Bill Team on it, and I am grateful for its explanation. Amendment No. 108ZBB is a probing amendment to Clause 148 and the effect of the moratorium. It seeks to understand whether a moratorium gives rise to a requirement for the regulator’s consent where there has been a binding agreement to sell land but the transaction has not been completed. We are talking about bigger items of property, but in house purchase terms we would be talking about contract and completion. That is the distinction. This is an important point, because a third party would be affected by something completely outside his control. He might suspect that a moratorium is on the way, but that is different from one being in place. Amendment No. 108ZBC seeks to amend Clause 151, which allows the regulator to make proposals. I suggest that regard must be had to the interests of the tenants of the registered provider. That is a different way of checking whether Clause 98, which is about evidence, and Clause 88, which is about the fundamental objectives, apply. I believe that they do, but confirmation would be welcome. Finally, Amendment No. 108ZBD to Clause 157 concerns assistance by the regulator who can lend staff to a provider. This is to probe the employment status of the staff who are lent. For instance, could a member of staff refuse to be lent? I assume that they remain employed by the regulator and that there is no transfer of employment. Confirmation of that would also be welcome.