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Amendments made: No. 2, in page 50, line 12, after `company', insert
`by which eligible shares are issued or any subsidiary of such a company'.
§ No. 3, in page 50, line 15, after 'company', insert 'or subsidiary'.
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No. 4, in page 50, line 16, leave out 'relevant period' and insert
`period beginning with the date on which the shares are issued and ending four years after that date'.
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No. 5, in page 50, line 21, leave out
'company" does not include a company'
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and insert
`references to a company or subsidiary do not include references to a company or subsidiary'.—[Mr. Norman Lamont.]
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Amendment proposed: No. 6, in page 50, line 23, at end insert
`or Part VII of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1981'. —[Mr. Norman Lamont.]
§ Mr. Deputy SpeakerWith this it will be convenient to take Government amendments Nos. 7 and 8.
§ Mr. Chris SmithThe amendments extend to Northern Ireland the scope of the business expansion scheme relief for the setting up of companies engaged in letting property. In our debates on the Budget and the Finance Bill, we have consistently made plain our complete and utter distaste for this use of the business expansion scheme.
One aspect of this group of amendments concerns us particularly. Assured tenancies under the Housing Bill do not apply to Northern Ireland, so the Government have come up with the amendments to enshrine the BES provisions for Northern Ireland. However, amendment No. 8 gives the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland almost blanket approval for establishing whatever terms and conditions of tenancy it considers appropriate under the scheme. At least with assured tenancies—bad though they are—we knew where we stood, because the provisions were enshrined in the Housing Bill. But amendment No. 8 gives the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland carte blanche to come up with regulations at some time in the future to set up a form of tenancy which will be the subject of considerable tax relief. We cannot but view this open-ended proposal with disquiet and we seek firmer information about the Government's intentions in the amendment.
§ Mr. Norman LamontAs I explained in Committee, the market for rented housing in Northern Ireland is different from the market here, in that it is already deregulated to a substantial extent, so the new assured tenancy scheme will not apply there. As the BES relief in the Finance Bill is linked to the assured tenancy scheme, it follows that such relief would not be available in Northern Ireland. However, although Northern Ireland does not have the same shortage of rented accommodation, there is a shortage of good modern housing. We therefore decided to extend the BES relief to Northern Ireland, and that is what the amendments would achieve.
The hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith) specifically asked about amendment No. 8. It provides that in Northern Ireland a qualifying tenancy is one which complies with conditions to be prescribed by regulations. We intend that the tenancies should be broadly similar to assured tenancies in terms of both the type of property and the security of tenure. They will be very similar.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Amendments made: No. 7, in page 50, line 26 leave out
`or'.
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No. 8, in page 50, line 28 at end insert—
`or
(c) in Northern Ireland, a tenancy which complies with such requirements or conditions as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland,'.
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No. 9, in page 50, line 29 leave out from 'tenancy' to end of line 31 and insert—
`which falls within subsection (3A) below'.
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Page 50, line 33 at end insert—
`(3A) A tenancy falls within this subsection if—
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No. 11, in page 50, line 33 at end insert—
'(3B) Regulations under subsection (3) above shall be made by statutory rule for the purposes of the Statutory Rules (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 and shall be subject to negative resolution within the meaning of section 41(6) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954.'.—[Mr. Norman Lamont.]