First Schedule.—(SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS AS TO PAYMENTS FOR ACCRUED TENANT'S REPAIRS.) (Hansard, 18 June 1954)

§ Sir H. Lucas-Tooth
I beg to move, in page 51, line 10, at the end, to insert: (6) In a case falling within sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph where a payment for accrued tenant's repairs would, apart from this paragraph, include an amount in respect of cost incurred by the landlord in ascertaining what initial repairs are required in consequence of failure by the tenant to fulfil his obligations under the former tenancy, the following provisions shall have effect—

(a) that amount shall be recoverable notwithstanding anything in sub-paragraph (2) of this paragraph;

(b) in a case falling within sub-paragraph (3) of this paragraph the said amount shall he recoverable in addition to the amount specified in that sub-paragraph;

(c) the time for recovery of the said amount shall, as well in a case falling within sub-paragraph (2) of this paragraph as in one falling within sub-paragraph (3) thereof, be that mentioned in the said sub-paragraph (3).
This Amendment is consequential on the Amendment to Clause 8, page 7, line 36.

§ Sir F. Soskice
This is a long and complicated Amendment. I am sure that the Joint Under-Secretary is right, but I should be glad if he would be so good as to say what it is consequential upon and not simply mention the number of the Clause. Will he say what changes have been made which make it necessary to make this somewhat complicated change in this part of the Bill?

§ Sir H. Lucas-Tooth
The Amendment to Clause 8 makes the payment for accrued tenant's repairs include survey fees incurred by the landlord on finding out what initial repairs were required because of the failure of the tenant to fulfil his repairing obligations under the ground lease. The present Amendment deals with the position where the statutory tenancy comes to an end before the initial repairs have been completed.
2506 Its effect is that so much of the payment as represents survey fees is recoverable immediately on the ending of the statutory tenancy, and it is recoverable whether or not the initial repairs are still required. The justification for this latter provision is that, even if the initial repairs are no longer required because the house is to be pulled down, the landlord will have already incurred the survey fees and should be able to recover them on the principle of the original Amendment. I accept that the House was divided on the original Amendment, but the principle is the same and is imported into this Schedule.

§ Sir F. Soskice
If, with the permission of the House, I may speak again, I wish to add a few words because the previous explanation was possibly a little on the inadequate side.
I am sure that the Government will not feel that we have any reason to be gratified by this Amendment. Indeed, while the hon. Gentleman was speaking I heard an hon. Friend say, "It is not the question of principle, but a question of lack of principle " and I cordially agree with him. I will not seek to divide the House on this matter, because the House has approved the main Amendment to which this is consequential, but I think I should register the feelings we have on this further addition to the burdens on the unfortunate tenant.
Once the Government have committed themselves to one piece of iniquity I suppose they are dragged by their own momentum to another. They have gone a long way in this and I should like to mark my sense of strong disapproval of this further concession to landlords at the expense of these unfortunate tenants.

§ Sir H. Lucas-Tooth
I beg to move, in page 52, line 13, to leave out from "landlord," to "has," in line 14, and to insert:

(a) in ascertaining what initial repairs are required in consequence of failure by the tenant to fulfil his obligations under the former tenancy; and

(b) for the purposes of the relevant initial repairs;

as is recoverable from the tenant and.
This is another Amendment consequential on the Amendments to which we have agreed. I do not know whether we should take the protest of the right hon. 2507 and learned Member for Neepsend (Sir F. Soskice) as repeated?

§ Sir F. Soskice
Repeated and re-emphasised.

§ Sir H. Lucas-Tooth
I beg to move, in page 53, line 41, at the end, to insert: (3) An order under this paragraph may include a provision that the reduction of rent shall take effect from a specified date before the making of the order, being such date as the court thinks just having regard to the landlord's delay in carrying out the initial repairs; and where an order contains such a provision then, in addition to the reduction ordered by virtue of sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph, such number of payments of rent next falling due after the date of the order shall be reduced by such amount as may be specified in the order for the purpose of giving effect to the said provision. There is a further Amendment proposed to page 54, line 6, at the end, to insert: or to any reduction ordered by virtue of subparagraph (3) of the last foregoing paragraph. That Amendment goes with this one and these Amendments fulfil a pledge given in Committee by my right hon. and learned Friend the Solicitor-General. They concern cases where the landlord has failed to carry out initial repairs within a reasonable time and the court therefore orders a reduction in rent. It may well be that at the time when the court orders the reduction the tenant will have been paying the higher rent for some time beyond the date which, in the view of the court, is a reasonable limit by which the landlord should have completed the repairs.
In such circumstances, it would be only just for the tenant to be able to recover from the landlord the excess rent paid over the relevant period. This Amendment enables the court, when ordering a reduction of rent, to order, also, that the tenant can recover the excess.

§ Sir F. Soskice
The hon. Gentleman will be able to divine my reaction to this Amendment as easily as he was able to divine my reaction to the last Amendment. This, we think, is a very welcome 2508 Amendment and I thank the Government and the Joint Under-Secretary for having introduced the change in the Bill.