CLAUSE 33.—(Transitional provisions as to compensation.) (Hansard, 5 June 1947)

§ The Solicitor-General

I beg to move, in page 33, line 34, to leave out "if," and to insert: (i) where the tenancy terminates by reason of a notice to quit, and. This Amendment and the next two Amendments deal with the same topic. Hon. Members will know that Clause 33 of the Bill contains transitional provisions relating to compensation. A sitting tenant, when Part II of the Bill comes into force can, with regard to improvements set out in Part II of the Fourth Schedule, by virtue of paragraph (b) of Subsection (2) elect either to have compensation in respect of tenant right under the Bill or, apart from the provisions of the Bill, under custom or agreement. He is given that right to elect if he is a sitting tenant within the meaning of Subsection (2). All that these Amendments do is this. When his tenancy is determined it may either be determined by virtue of the operation of Clause 30, that is to say by a notice to quit which is allowed to stand under the provisions of Clause 30 of the Bill, or it may be determined under Clause 17, that is to say the Clause which deals with dispossession. If he wants to make an election under Clause 33 he has to give notice to the landlord, but the landlord himself is given the right to call upon the tenant, to make up his mind which he wants. If the landlord gives the tenant notice to make up his mind whether he is going to have compensation under the Bill or apart from the Bill the tenant must do so. But where the tenancy is going to end under Section 30 it may be that it depends upon a decision 460 to be given by the Minister or the Tribunal, and the tenant will obviously not know what the decision is going to be. The first object of the Amendments therefore is to give the tenant a certain elbow room after the decision of the Tribunal is made known before he is called upon to make his election.

The second part of the proposed new proviso is concerned with the case where the tenancy is determined under Clause 17. There the tenant has three months in which to vacate the holding, but obviously the landlord may wish him to make up his mind at an early stage whether he is going to opt for Bill compensation or non-Bill compensation. The second part of the proposed new proviso therefore provides that the tenant, having been called upon to do so, must make his election in the time set out in the Amendment, provided the landlord gives notice in writing. All that these Amendments do is to fill out a space which has been left in the drafting of the Bill as it stands at the moment. They deal with the position where a decision on a tenancy is before the Minister or the tribunal, and they also require that where a tenant has his interest determined under Clause 17 he has got to be speedy in making up his mind when called upon to do so. In asking the House to accept these Amendments, I would add that they do not deal with a principle, but they really fill in a gap that was left by the Bill when it was originally drafted.