§ MR. RENDALL (Gloucestershire, Thornbury)To ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether the Board is aware that the town clerk has been directed by the Bristol small holdings committee to demand from an applicant for a small holding of five acres a responsible person to guarantee the rent, in spite of the fact that the applicant has satisfactory evidence that he has paid a rent of £26 yearly for a considerable time; and whether the Board will take such action in this and similar cases as will prevent the purpose of the Small Holdings Act being defeated.
(Answered by Sir Edward Strachey.) The Board are informed that an applica- 44 tion for a small holding of four to five acres with a cottage and shed has been made to the Bristol Town Council which is now under consideration. The applicant describes himself as a labourer without capital, and it will be necessary for the small holdings committee of the council to satisfy themselves that he would be a suitable tenant if a holding is provided, but they have not stipulated that any guarantee for the payment of the rent should be given.