Lord Shipley (LD)

My Lords, I have Amendments 4 and 5 in this group, which are purely probing amendments to enable the Minister to explain clearly the Government’s rationale for abolishing fixed-term tenancies. In Amendment 4 I lit on a six-month period and Amendment 5 relates to two months, and I note that the noble Baroness, Lady Scott of Bybrook, has a period of three months in this group. The noble Lord, Lord Truscott, warned of unintended consequences, and it is almost inevitable with a Bill of this kind that there will be unintended consequences almost whatever we do. However, in this situation we have to avoid it happening unnecessarily. I can envisage that there may be situations where a very short tenancy is wanted by both tenant and landlord. As I said, I have proposed two-month and six-month periods and the noble Baroness, Lady Scott of Bybrook, has proposed three months. The reason is that it would reduce paperwork and the procedures would become much easier. However, in the context of periodic tenancies—which is what the Government are doing— I understand that it is actually quite difficult to fit in a very short-term system such as that, even though it might be in the interests of the tenant, with the agreement of the landlord, to have that kind of tenancy. So I hope that the Minister will explain clearly why that should not be permitted under this Bill. I will add one further factor that we will debate on a future day: the issue of paying rent up front. There are those who have real difficulty in securing the credit rating necessary to persuade a landlord to give them a tenancy. In some cases, it is very much in the interests of the tenant to be able to pay more than one month up front. I understand how the Government have finally decided not to have two months as a limit on upfront payment, plus a deposit, and have brought it down to one month. However, I think, as the noble Lord, Lord Truscott, advised us, that we have to be very careful about unintended consequences. We need to think carefully about the wish of a tenant to pay for a short-term rental up front at the start of the tenancy. Can the Minister see any means whereby the Government, through this Bill, could be more flexible in situations of that kind?