Tenants' Fees Bill - date set for next stage on path to becoming law

The government has announced that the Report Stage for the Tenants’ Fees Bill will be held on September 5, the day after the House of Commons returns from its summer recess.

So far the Tenants’ Fees Bill has been through three of the stages which all Bills go through en route to becoming law - the First and Second Readings and the Committee Stage in the Commons.

Unlike, for example, the Committee Stage, the Report Stage sees the debate return to the whole floor of the Commons: any MP has an opportunity to comment, and for contentious Bills the Report Stage can last several days - however, as most MPs are believed to support the ban on lettings agents’ fees on tenants, this part of the process on this particular Bill is expected to be a matter of hours. 

All MPs may speak and vote and all MPs can suggest amendments to the Bill or new clauses they think should be added.

It is frequently the case that the Report Stage is followed immediately by debate on the Bill's next part of the process - the Third Reading.

Third Reading debates in the Commons are typically short and amendments cannot be made at this stage.

At the end of the debate, the House of Commons votes on whether to approve the Third Reading of the Bill.

If passed, the Bill then moves over to the House of Lords where it starts the whole process all over again - First and Second Readings, Committee Stage, Report Stage and Third Reading - before it eventually moves towards receiving Royal Assent.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says it expects this Bill to become law at some stage in 2019.