Member

Amendment 63 seeks to create a new ground for possession to enable landlords to convert a residential property to non-residential use. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Carrington, for a helpful meeting yesterday. While I understand the intent behind this approach, I do not believe that it is the right one. The proposed new ground just does not strike the right balance. With so many pressures on housing supply, it would not be right to encourage residential lets to be converted to other uses. Where landlords wish to convert their property to a non-residential use, it is right that they should do this as tenants move out, rather than by evicting a tenant through no fault of their own. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Carrington, for raising the issue of farm diversification with me yesterday and for pointing out that farmers also turn their land into residential land, as the noble Earl, Lord Leicester, also mentioned. I thank the noble Earl for his contribution towards dealing with the housing need that we are facing.