The Private Member’s Bill, introduced by Richard Harrington MP (Con, Watford) with all party support, seeks to establish a new criminal offence to tackle the unlawful subletting of social housing properties.
The Committee agreed to extend the Bill to cover Wales, in accordance with the wishes of the Welsh Assembly Government. It also accepted an amendment from the Minister for Local Government Brandon Lewis to add powers to persons authorised by local authorities to require information from specified bodies to help detect and prosecute instances of fraud. The minister said he intended banks, building societies and utility companies to be on the list of organisations that are compelled to supply data.
The Bill, as amended, will return to to the House of Commons for the Report Stage - a date for this has not yet been set.
The Bill received its Third Reading on 9 November and has now passed to the House of Lords.
ReplyDeleteJustin Bates, a barrister at Arden Chambers, has written about the bill in Inside Housing, concluding "It is unclear why this reform is needed... Criminalising something for a second time may be good politics, but it’s unlikely to make for good law."
ReplyDeleteThe Bill was passed by the House of Lords without debate on 14 January and it now waits for the final stage of Royal Assent when the Bill will become an Act of Parliament.
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