Tenant Fees Bill — Schedule 1 — Reduce Maximum Deposit Landlord May Require from a Tenant — 23 Jan 2019 at 14:30

The majority of MPs voted to reduce the maximum a deposit a landlord may require from a tenant to five weeks', rather than six weeks', rent where the rent is under £50,000 per year. The deposit cap for rentals over £50,000 per year remained at six weeks' rent.

MPs were considering the Tenant Fees Bill^[1]

The motion supported by the majority of MPs in this vote was:

• That this House agrees with Lords amendment 36.

Amendment 36 stated:

• Page 24, line 12, leave out “the amount of six weeks’ rent,” and insert “—
• (a) the amount of five weeks’ rent, where the annual rent in respect of the tenancy immediately after its grant, renewal or continuance is less than £50,000, or
• (b) the amount of six weeks’ rent, where the annual rent in respect of the tenancy immediately after its grant, renewal or continuance is £50,000 or more,”

This amendment would have impacted Paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 of the Bill^[3] titled "tenancy deposit", which prior to the amendment stated:

• :2 (1) A payment of a tenancy deposit is a permitted payment.
• (2) In this Act “tenancy deposit” means money intended to be held (by a landlord or otherwise) as security for—
• (a) the performance of any obligations of a tenant, or
• (b)the discharge of any liability of a tenant, arising under or in connection with a tenancy.
• (3) But if the amount of the tenancy deposit exceeds the amount of six weeks’ rent, the amount of the excess is a prohibited payment.
• (4) In this paragraph—
• (a)“six weeks’ rent” means six times one week’s rent, and
• (b) “one week’s rent” means the amount of the annual rent payable in respect of the tenancy immediately after its grant, renewal or continuance divided by 52.

During the debate preceding the vote Heather Wheeler MP stated^[4]:

• ... we tabled Lords amendments 36 and 37 to lower the cap on deposits to five weeks’ rent for properties where the annual rent is less than £50,000; where the annual rent is £50,000 or more, the deposit cap will remain at six weeks’ rent. The vast majority of tenants will be subject to a deposit cap of up to five weeks’ rent. The higher six-week deposit cap will apply only to properties where the monthly rent is £4,167 or more. Valuation Office Agency data show that across England the median monthly rent is significantly less than that.

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• [1] Parliament's webpage on the Tenant Fees Bill, Parliament.uk
• [2] Page of Lords Amendments to the Bill containing amendment 36, Parliament.uk
• [3] Paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 of the Bill as referred to by the amendment
• [4] Heather Wheeler MP, House of Commons Official Record, 23 January 2019

Debate in Parliament |