Shrewsbury MP threatens to rebel against party

Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski said he decided for the third time in his 13-year career as an MP to rebel and has informed his party that unless there is "significant change" to the bill, he will be voting against it at its third reading.

The motion in question, if passed, would ban letting agents from charging tenant fees in addition to asking for a deposit and the first month’s rent upfront.

Mr Kawczynski said: "Whilst some may look at this as a relatively trivial issue, to me this has a considerable ramification for us as a party. This vote directly contradicts the Conservative Party’s long held ethos of being a pro-business, pro-free market party and, if these are the measures we are supporting, are we truly a pro-business party?

"There are also serious questions regarding the good that this ban will do; the Government’s own assessment has shown that each branch will lose about £10,000 during the first year of the ban alone. This will lead to branches having to let go of staff members and it will negatively impact many industry service providers such as inventory clerks. Indeed, the total cost of this ban to business has been estimated to be as high as £340m per year.

"To reinforce that this motion is fundamentally unconservative, the Labour Party, in 2014, actually proposed this exact ban on letting fees.

"In 2014, Ian Potter, the managing director of the Association of Residential Letting Agents, responded by highlighting that the then Labour plan would actually have an adverse effect on tenants.

"He stated that 'pledging to transfer fees to landlords or calling for outright bans will increase rents as landlords and agents seek to achieve returns. Fees are not arbitrary or unnecessary; they represent a business cost that Labour has failed to recognise'."

Mr Kawczynski added that one of the largest besrocks of votes for the Conservative Party comes from small business owners and that this ban would be a "fundamental attack" on them and their prosperity.

He said: "Whilst larger corporations will be able to bear the weight of a reduced income, smaller, independently owned estate agents will likely struggle and some may have to close.

"We rightly opposed this measure in 2014 and I find it truly incredible that a Conservative Government is now considering enacting a law that is so fundamentally against what we should stand for.

"Hence, as a true conservative, I cannot in all good conscience support this bill because to do so would fundamentally contradict the foundations of the conservative party and my own personal beliefs.

"If we, as the Conservative Party, are simply copying ‘Red’ Ed Miliband’s manifesto then we truly have to ask ourselves – are we really a conservative party?"

The bill's second reading took place in the House of Commons on Monday evening.