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Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants Etc.) Bill

I accept everything that the hon. Gentleman says, and I do not think that there is any difference between us on what we are trying to achieve. The issue is more about minor detail, and how we reach the goal that we all wish to reach. However, regarding the point at which people can apply for a two-month suspension, the hon. Gentleman made it clear that clause 1(5) would prevent someone who had plenty of opportunity to know about the possession hearing from not doing anything at that stage and applying for the two-month delay at the warrant stage. I am not sure whether the provision does the job adequately, as the unauthorised tenant could ignore the notice about the possession hearing and the initial hearing, and could wait until the lender is at the warrant stage before going to court. I am not sure that the safeguard that he thinks the Bill contains is strong enough to stop that happening. I appreciate that people may not be aware of the issue, and I shall come on to the way in which we can be more certain that they are aware of the possession hearing. It would be better if the Bill made that clearer and people were aware of that stage. For example, a letter might be sent to someone by registered post, so that they had to sign for it. It would be clearly documented that they had received it and there would be no doubt about that. That would be helpful, particularly as the hon. Gentleman made it clear that the matter of people deliberately ignoring action at the first stage had to be tackled. The position should be made clearer in the Bill so that people could not just ignore the notice and wait until the final stage before doing something about it. It is not fair for people to wait until the final stage to do something about it, as it means that the landlord who has defaulted on their mortgage will rack up more interest costs while the second hearing takes place and that the lender cannot get on with their business. It will also clog up the court system, because instead of one hearing, two will take place. Anything that can be done to try to speed up the process and prevent extra court hearings is a good thing. I am not suggesting that the hon. Gentleman should remove the flexibility in the Bill. All that I urge him to do, either in Committee or on Report, is consider amendments that make it clearer that if people are aware of the first hearing, they have to act at that stage, and cannot wait until the second stage. We should, however, retain the safeguard that if they are genuinely not aware of the first hearing, they can act later. Secondly, while I accept what the hon. Gentleman is proposing, I am not entirely sure that the Bill does the job. He said that people can apply for only one two-month delay, and I agree wholeheartedly. However, I am concerned that the Bill does not make that clear.