§ (1) The County Court shall have power to amend a notice of intention to increase rent, whether served before or after the passing of this Act, by correcting any errors and supplying any omissions therein, on such terms and conditions as respect arrears of rent or otherwise as appear to the Court to be just and reasonable, and if the Court so directs, the notice as so amended shall have effect and be deemed to have had effect as a valid notice.
§ Lords Amendment:
§
In Sub-section (1) leave out the words
shall have power to amend a notice of intention to increase rent, whether served before or after the passing of this Act.
1139
and insert
if satisfied that any error or omission in a notice of intention to increase rent, whether served before or after the passing of this Act, is due to a bona fide mistake on the part of the landlord, shall have power to amend such notice.
Mr. CHAMBERLAINI beg to move, "That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment."
As I explained at an earlier stage, the intention all along was not to give benefits to the landlords who deliberately had omitted some item from his notice of increase, but to allow accidental omissions from a very complicated schedule to be altered by the Court. The object of this Amendment is to put actual words into the Bill to make it clear that these alterations only apply to cases where the Court is satisfied that a bona fide mistake has been made.
§ Mr. PRINGLEI think it is important that this Amendment should have been made. The House will remember that on the Report stage there was a considerable discussion on the merits of the Clause, and that the Opposition felt so strongly about it that they divided. The insertion of this Amendment, therefore, does something to remedy the objections which we then entertained, because it makes it clear now that it is an error or omission which is due to a bona fide mistake. Under the Clause as it originally stood, any error, no matter how important or whether it had been made by design on the part of the landlord and whether he had benefited by it, might have been cured by the action of the Court. This makes it clear that only in the case of a bona fide mistake will the Court come to the assistance of the landlord, and I am glad that the right hon. Gentleman has agreed to this change.
§ Lords Amendment:
§
In Sub-section (1), after the word "therein" ["any omissions therein"], insert
which, if not corrected or supplied, would render the notice invalid.
Mr. CHAMBERLAINI beg to move, "That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment."
1140 This is clearly covering very much the same ground as the last Amendment, and is intended to have the same effect.