Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of provisions in the Renters’ Rights Bill on the number of empty homes, in the context of the ban on re-renting homes after a home has been vacated for sale.

My Department has made no such assessment.

Landlords making use of new mandatory possession ground 1A (sale of dwelling-house) will be expected to sell their property with vacant possession as intended.

To prevent abuse of this ground, landlords will not be able to market or re-let their property for twelve months after using the selling ground. This will remove the financial incentive to landlords from misusing the grounds and evicting a tenant with the intention to re-let at a higher rent.