Devon MP fears over holiday home loophole

'Devil is in the detail' of new bill

A Devon Conservative MP has warned that his own government’s proposals to deal with tenants’ rights could cause long-term damage.

Anthony Mangnall, who represents Totnes, says the “devil is in the detail” of the Renters Reform Bill, which has just had its second reading in the House of Commons.

He says a loophole in the bill would allow holidaymakers to snap up rental properties for the summer before handing them back. It would take much-needed accommodation off the local market altogether.

The bill passed its reading and will undergo further scrutiny at a later stage.

Campaigners were angry that it did not include a long-promised ban on no-fault evictions, which will now be delayed until potentially lengthy reforms to the judicial system are completed.

Mr Mangnall said that while he supported the bill in principle, he is concerned about a clause about removing fixed term rentals.

Speaking in the Commons he said: “My constituency has one of the largest second home and Airbnb markets in the country. Under the government’s proposal that tenants will be able to hand back a tenancy with a minimum of two months’ notice, someone could come down, pretend that they are going to rent a house on the long-term rental market, go there for June, July and August, and then hand back the tenancy.

“With this clause, we would completely obliterate the long-term rental market because people would take advantage of it as a short-term letting market and then hand the property back.”

He said the disparity in prices between short and long-term lets is “unbelievably significant” in South Devon.

He went on: “People will rent a house on the pretence that they will stay in it for a significant period. They will be there for the summer, and then they will give it back. That is what the clause allows. We have to ensure that the unforeseen consequences are addressed.

“Unless the minister can give me some reassurance, I worry deeply about what the long-term rental market will look like.”

At the moment, he said, only 70 homes were currently available for people to rent in South Devon.

“We need to incentivise people to put their houses into the long-term rental market so that they can provide that social value,” he said.