HC Deb 28 April 1948 vol 450 cc462-3
The Lord Advocate

I beg to move, in page 4, line 20, at the end, to insert: Provided that if the landlord and the tenant enter into an agreement in writing in that behalf, a record of the condition of the holding shall, notwithstanding that it was made during the occupancy of a previous tenant, be deemed, for the purposes of this subsection, to have been made during the occupancy of the tenant and on such date as may be specified in the agreement. This Amendment has been put down in order to close a gap which previously existed, because Subsection (6) provides that a landlord may claim compensation under the Clause for deterioration of the holding only where a record of the condition of the holding has been made during the occupancy of the tenant against whom the claim is made. It was realised that a position might exist where there was an existent record of the holding, and that both parties would be prepared to accept that as an accurate record for the purposes of the Clause. This Amendment is designed to make clear that such a record could be accepted and could be used.

Mr. J. S. C. Reid

This is plainly an improvement, but there is one point on which it may not go quite far enough. Obviously, there will be some small change, at least in the condition of the holding, in most cases, between the date of the making of the record and the date of the change of tenancy. As I understand it, the purpose of this Amendment is to enable a record made in the last tenancy to carry on in the next tenancy without the expense of making a completely new one. Nevertheless, some small amendment may have to be made. Would it not be a good thing to allow the parties to agree that the old record should carry on, subject to the small amendment which may be necessary to bring it up to date? I think it would be desirable to expand the drafting to cover that case.

Amendment agreed to.