---

Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants Etc.) Bill

I join other hon. Members in congratulating the hon. Member for Bolton, South-East (Dr. Iddon) on continuing his triumphs in the ballot for private Members' Bills, which he mentioned at the beginning of his speech, and on introducing the Bill. He gave some indication of the volume of requests sent to the person who is fortunate enough—or unfortunate enough—to come top of the ballot for private Members' Bills. I have never been in that position, and, given the experience of other hon. Members who have been here a long time, I am unlikely to get the opportunity to understand how difficult it can be. I appreciate that it must have been difficult for the hon. Gentleman to choose a Bill to introduce because I am sure that many good causes tried to benefit from his position in the ballot. I congratulate him on the Bill that he chose because he has rightly identified a problem in the market, which needs resolving. I would like to think that the Bill will get a Second Reading today with unanimous support. Some things may need ironing out in Committee, but Second Reading is about the principle of the Bill, and I wholeheartedly support that principle. I do not see any great point in going through all the reasons for the Bill because other hon. Members have set them out, not least the hon. Member for Bolton, South-East, who made an excellent speech. He explained the reasons for the measure and its scope with the current wording. I want to flag up at this early stage some ways in which the Bill could be improved. The hon. Gentleman made it clear in reply to an intervention from me that he was seeking broad support for the Bill from all parts of the industry, and he has made a good fist of that at the first attempt. He said that he looked to organisations such as the Council of Mortgage Lenders for support, and he has broadly got it. However, some changes could do two things: reassure the Council of Mortgage Lenders about some of its concerns, while not making a material difference to the purpose of the Bill. I do not want to amend the Bill in a way that would neuter it or the purpose behind it. The principle is very good, but perhaps some amendments could be made that would retain the purpose but address some small concerns. I will go through those concerns shortly. At the outset, it is worth considering unauthorised tenancies and why they arise. The hon. Gentleman mentioned that. In the case of people renting out properties without getting the mortgage lender's permission, some might argue that we should abolish unauthorised tenancies so that tenants, whether authorised in the traditional sense or not, have general protection. However, it is worth pointing out, as the Council of Mortgage Lenders has done, that there is a good policy reason behind unauthorised tenancies. Without them, we could end up in a position whereby""unscrupulous borrowers could blight the lender's security by granting long term leases to tenants"" while defaulting on their mortgage, thereby leaving the mortgage lender in an impossible position. The hon. Gentleman's strategy is right. It recognises the fact that we cannot give blanket coverage to tenants, whatever their circumstances. The provision to grant a two-month stay of execution is a sensible compromise, which protects the lender and the tenant. The Council of Mortgage Lenders makes some other detailed points, which I want to raise. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will say whether he is minded to support those points through amendments in Committee or on Report and perhaps explain, if he is not, why not, because some of the points that the Council of Mortgage Lenders raises are worth further scrutiny. The first point relates to trying to get a two-month delay. At what point should people apply for that two-month delay? As the hon. Gentleman said, the Bill does not set out whether that should happen at the possession hearing stage in court or at the warrant stage. As I understand it, the Bill would allow application for the two-month delay at any stage. The reason that he gave was that letters sent before the possession hearing might not be received or opened, so people would not be aware of the process that was under way. It is therefore important that there is flexibility in the system, to make it clear that if someone only finds out at the warrant stage, they still have an opportunity to do something about it. I accept that point.