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Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants Etc.) Bill

Traditionally, buy-to-let tenants have two months before the notice kicks in. We discussed whether to apply that to the Bill, but the hon. Gentleman will have heard me say that the notice period is up to two months, so that if the tenant voluntarily gives up possession of the property, the sale can proceed. There is therefore a counter-balance, but the evidence from the charities working in this area is that most tenants are genuinely unaware that this is happening to them. I do not see any way around that. We have discussed this quite a bit with the Council of Mortgage Lenders, and we are prepared to meet it again. However, we believe that the Bill in its present form is the best we can achieve to protect the interests both of tenants and lenders.