House of Commons
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Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake declares his interest as a landlord and former estate agent and says he has concerns about the reduction of deposit lengths to five weeks, as if it doesn't work for landlords they will "exit the market" and that will make it more difficult for tenants in the long run.

At the moment there is flexibility, he says, so it's really important this change is made under review.

The Lords "meant well" in some of their amendments, he adds, but might have unintended consequences.

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SNP MP Angela Crawley says she welcomes the Tenant Fees Bill, despite it not applying to Scotland.

She notes that the Scottish government abolished tenant fees in 2011 and have seen "the positive effects of this".

Ms Crawley notes that holding deposits are now also illegal in Scotland, and calls for this to be rolled out in the rest of the UK too.

The government's decision to accept a Lords amendment calling for the deposit cap of six weeks rent to be reduced to five weeks is "very welcome", she adds, concluding that the bill will be "a great help" to those within the private rented sector.

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Tory MP Bob Blackman explains that he was chairing the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee during pre-legislative scrutiny of the bill, adding that he is "absolutely delighted" that the government has endorsed all of their recommendations.

This includes the reduction from six weeks to five weeks on deposits, which "strikes a balance" between tenants and landlords' interests.

No-one on the committee promoted less than four weeks, he adds, despite the shadow minister pushing for this.

He suggests tenants would end up "far worse off" as a result of this change, as landlords would be likely to inflate rents to make up the difference.

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Shadow housing minister Melanie Onn says the government fought hard against Labour and charities to leave default charges for situations including misplacing keys "at the discretion of landlords".

She adds that the measures in the bill are "on the whole" positive for those living in the private rental sector, and she is pleased that the Lords accepted a Labour amendment calling for situations in which a default charge can be incurred to be listed on the front of the bill.

Ms Onn says landlords should not have to pay for repairs when damages are caused by tenants to their properties, and that this is not what her amendments are suggesting.

On her amendment which reduces the deposit cap to "three weeks rent for all", Ms Onn says "this bill doesn’t reach its full potential in protecting tenants from unscrupulous landlords who want to charge unfair fees", even with the government having proposed a reduction of the cap from six to five weeks rent.

She says if the government can confirm written evidence will be needed from a landlord explaining why a default charge is being applied, she will not push her second amendment (b), which calls for this, to a vote.

"These amendments will deliver a better private sector for the many," she concludes.

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The Speaker announces he has selected shadow housing minister Melanie Onn's amendments.

Housing Minister Heather Wheeler says a cap at six weeks rent for deposits is in line with the recommendation by the Housing Committee.

Speaking against Ms Onn's amendment, which calls for the deposit cap to be three weeks rent, Ms Wheeler says it is is "unnecessary" and could create a situation where landlords want to withdraw from the market, or to increase rent charges.

Ms Wheeler says if a deposit is simply three weeks rent, a tenant may "risk forgoing the final month's payment of rent".

"The government has already brought forwards the best solution for the tenancy deposit scheme cap which is in the interest of both landlords and tenants," she adds, noting that in Scotland the cap is a much higher eight weeks rent.

Ms Wheeler says when passed, the bill will come into act on 1 June 2019 as the legislation is "crucial to increasing confidence in the private rental sector".

Image source, Getty Images

MPs are now moving on to discuss Lords amendments to the Tenant Fees Bill.

The bill aims to:

• make renting fairer and more affordable for tenants by reducing the costs at the outset of a tenancy
• improve transparency and competition in the private rental market
• ban letting fees paid by tenants in England
• improve fairness, competition and affordability in the lettings sector

In the Lords, members agreed two amendments relating to interest payments owed by landlords or letting agents to enforcement authorities.

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary Correspondent

Nothing has changed. Again.

All the main actors at PMQs struck their usual poses. It was striking that the House was not packed out in the way it used to be for PMQs, as the usual questions got the usual answers.

And while minute scrutiny of the Prime Ministerial language might reveal a couple of micro-hints that she is not utterly against a customs union, or utterly certain of leaving on March 29th, May-watchers need to beware of over-interpreting every variation in her language.

So, beyond the standard exchanges of barbs between the big three players, May, Corbyn and Blackford, what nuggets of meaning can be excavated from today’s 40 minutes?

The two Brexit questions from Tory backbenchers highlighted well-known tensions; Andrew Rosindell wanted no backsliding on the date of Brexit, and the PM seemed to give him what he wanted; Peter Bone wanted a purge of remainer ministers, and was probably not helped by sitting a couple of places from one of his targets, Margot James.

The result was that he sat down to growls and grumbles, rather than slaps on the back. He got a roar from some colleagues, but also mutterings of “rubbish” from others.

Then there were some powerful backbench questions on other matters (ie non-Brexit issues). Sarah Jones spoke about the risks to residents of tower blocks covered by the kind of cladding involved in the Grenfell disaster, and her question kept the attention of the House, despite its length.

John Mann had a harrowing tale of a teenage constituent who took his own life after a mental health crisis and Lucy Allan asked about an inquiry into the Telford child sexual abuse case.

Labour's Liz McInnes highlighted the decline of the high street and Tory Rachel Maclean highlighted the importance of screening for cerviacal cancer.

A reminder that there is more going on in Britain than Brexit...

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Conservative MP Michael Fabricant is now introducing his Ancient Woodland Inventory (England) Bill.

His bill notes that the Ancient Woodland Inventory exists to protect woodlands, yet smaller woods, under about five acres, remain unprotected. The bill will update the Inventory to include these smaller woods.

Mr Fabricant says he is "a tree hugger - and proud of it", and in the year of "green action", more should be done to protect all ancient woodlands which are "irreplaceable".

He adds that the Inventory was originally developed in the 1980s when computerised mapping was in its infancy, and the lack of updates to it has meant it is missing data.

"This has in some cases has resulted in ancient woodlands being lost or damaged by development or mismanagement simply because they are not recorded on the Inventory," he says.

"To protect woodlands, we must invest more to know where they are."

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Conservative MP Vicky Ford asks Ms Frazer to confirm that the IT system failure was not a result of a cyber attack, and no data has been compromised.

Justice Minister Lucy Frazer says she can confirm that "this was not the result of a cyber attack" and that the cause of the problem is being looked into.

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Tory MP Anna Soubry says the truth is if the UK had "a better and more fully funded justice system" this incident would not have happened.

She says she believes the system is reaching "crisis point" which is not just about money, and calls on the minister to speak with members of the Criminal Bar Association, external "to help fix what is a broken system".

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Labour MP Ellies Reeves says prisons have been issued urgent notifications, privatised probation services have needed urgent bailouts and members of the legal profession have been on strike.

This is the latest failure in the justice system, she says, asking when the minister will accept that the 40% real terms cuts to MoJ budgets since 2010 has consequences: "Austerity has left the justice system at breaking point."

Ms Frazer says the issue was caused by infrastructure failure, and was not a result of funding cuts. The department has received investment, she adds, with £1bn invested in the courts service.

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Chair of the Justice Committee and Conservative MP Bob Neill calls for new initiatives to be "comprehensively and robustly tested" before they are rolled out so that the public can have faith in them.

Justice Minister Lucy Frazer says the point of reform with the IT system is to ensure the system remains fit for the future, and the government will carry out "a rigorous evaluation" of the reforming programme.

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Shadow justice minister Yasmin Qureshi says that MPs are "concerned" by the failure of "multiple" IT systems. She says she has seen these failures first hand last week. She asks for any confirmation if defendants have been released without trial and what costs this failure is incurring.

"These failures don't happen in a vacuum," she says, adding that the government has cut MoJ funds by 40% in the decade to 2020.

Ms Frazer says that the "issue is not related to cuts" but is instead due to a "contractual supplier" and the failures in their system.

No defendants or prisoners have been released as a result of this issue, she says.

"We are not cutting our justice system," she says, "we are putting £1bn into it."

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Justice Minister Lucy Frazer apologises, saying the "intermittent disruption" was caused by infrastructure failure at the supplier's data centre.

Services have continued to operate, as have court hearings, she says, but some staff have been unable to log onto computers. There are contingency plans in place to make sure trials go ahead.

Prisons were not affected and no criminals have gone free as a result.

The government is working to resolve the issues, with 90% of staff now able to access working computer systems. She expects the remainder of court sites to be fully operational by tomorrow morning.

The permanent secretary will be meeting with the chief executive of Atos this afternoon and writing to members of the judiciary.

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That's PMQs concluded, and shadow justice minister Yasmin Qureshi now asks an urgent question on the failure of the central courts IT system.

The Ministry of Justice is rushing to fix IT issues affecting courts across England.

Lawyers say trials have been delayed, jurors are unable to enrol and witness statements are inaccessible.

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Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron stands to sing the praises of Cumbria on National Cumbria Day, noting to MPs that there will be "many great Cumbrian delicacies on offer" in Parliament after PMQs.

He says that Cumbria is the UK's second largest tourist destination after London, and suggests the PM might like some of the delicacies on her next walking holiday...

The Speaker commends Mr Farron as a "one man tourist board".

Theresa May says she looks forward to trying samples of what Cumbria has to offer, but reminds Mr Farron that "Berkshire has great delicacies too".