Member

Amendment 21, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, is a probing amendment to test the interaction between Clause 7 and Clause 8(2). The lines the amendment seeks to remove perform an important function. The new regulation-making power in Clause 7 will allow the Secretary of State to specify and, where appropriate, update the areas to which the new rural exception to the right to buy applies. Clause 8 ensures continuity during that transition. In particular, Clause 8(2) provides that existing rural designations will continue to have effect after commencement, as if they were made under the new powers introduced by Clause 7. This means that there is no gap in protection for rural areas. The Government will then bring forward new secondary legislation after commencement to formally restate and update rural designations under the new framework, including the ability to add further areas where appropriate. The Bill also includes a power for the Secretary of State to repeal this transitional provision once regulations designating rural areas have been made. It is this power that the amendment is probing.