---

Housing and Regeneration Bill

moved Amendment No. 176A: 176A: Schedule 11, page 212, line 21, at end insert— ““( ) an assured tenancy which is not an assured shorthold tenancy if the original tenancy was a secure tenancy and during the termination period the interest of the former landlord has been transferred to a landlord which is not capable of granting secure tenancies,”” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 177A and 177B which are in this group, as is government Amendment No. 177, which also covers the issue of applying provisions about security to successor landlords. The Government’s amendment gives the Secretary of State an enabling power to extend the legislation to transferees at a later date. As we are at a late state of the Bill, my amendment immediately remedies an omission in the changes that have been made to the law relating to tolerated trespassers to cover the lacuna relating to tenancies where a person was formerly a council tenant but his home has been the subject of a stock transfer order. My amendment would allow a former tolerated trespasser to take on an assured tenancy agreement. The amendment would not only benefit tolerated trespassers in a stock transfer situation, but give the same benefit where a housing association is merged or taken over and there is a transfer of stock between associations. The Minister will argue that it is better to take these things a little more slowly and in a slightly more measured way. I have some sympathy with that, but I use this opportunity to put a bit of pressure on the Government to keep up the momentum. I beg to move.