Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress he is making in his plans to enable more people to have longer tenancies than the typical six months which is generally offered.

The Government is committed to protecting the rights of tenants and giving them more security. We recently consulted on ways to overcome the barriers to landlords offering longer, more secure tenancies in the private rented sector.

We are considering responses to the consultation and will be bringing forward proposals that make the system work for both tenants and landlords. We will provide more information on next steps shortly.

In the meantime, there is nothing to stop landlords offering a longer tenancy. We have published a model tenancy agreement which landlords and tenants can use as the basis for longer, family friendly tenancies, available for free at www.gov.uk/government/publications/model-agreement-for-a-shorthold-assured-tenancy. In addition, the measures announced in the Housing White Paper resulted in many of the largest build to rent operators offering their tenants the option of longer tenancies.