HC Deb 11 April 1957 vol 568 cc1269-71
Mr. Mellish

Mr. Speaker, with your permission and that of the House, I should like to present a Petition signed by some 3,600 citizens of the Borough of Bermondsey in the County of London. The Petition is to express the protest of these people against this shocking Rent Bill which the present Government are proposing to introduce and which is now before Parliament. The Petitioners feel that the Bill will make the hardships which they are now suffering from the the point of view of housing even more difficult than before, and they go on to say that the Bill will inflict hardship on many families and in particular on pensioners and others with small fixed incomes. Therefore. Sir, the Petitioners are praying that the Bill will be: … so amended that tenants shall not be evicted from their homes unless equivalent alternative accommodation is provided; that rents shall not be increased unless dwellings are in good habitable repair with reasonable amenities; and that in default of these amendments the Bill shall he rejected. And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray. I would ask, in accordance with the Standing Order, that the Clerk of the House should read the Petition.

The CLERK OF THE HOUSE read the Petition, which was as follows:

To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.

The Humble Petition of the undersigned citizens of England, and in particular of Bermondsey.

Sheweth:

That in this area there are many families to whom, despite the serious overcrowding and unsatisfactory housing conditions from which they suffer, the local authority can offer no hope of rehousing for many years to come.

In these conditions the proposals of Her Majesty's Government, in the Rent Bill now before Parliament,

  1. (a) To grant powers to the owners of many of these houses to serve on the occupants notice to quit, or of rent increases without statutory limit,
  2. (b) To serve on the occupants of the remaining houses notice of substantial rent increases without any guarantee of necessary repairs being undertaken, will inflict hardship on many families and in particular on pensioners and others on small fixed incomes.

Wherefore, your Petitioners pray that le Bill be so amended that tenants shall not be evicted from their homes unless equivalent alternative accommodation is provided; that rents shall not be increased unless dwellings are in good habitable repair with reasonable amenities; and that in default of these amendments the Bill shall be rejected.

And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.

To lie upon the Table.

Mr. Isaacs

Mr. Speaker, with your permission and that of the House, I also desire to present a Petition in precisely the same terms as that presented by my hon. Friend the Member for Bermondsey (Mr. Mellish), and for the same reasons that he has expressed.

To lie upon the Table.

Mr. Albu

Mr. Speaker, with your permission and that of the House, I beg leave to present a Petition from a large number of persons in the Boroughs of Edmonton, Southgate and Finchley, in the county of Middlesex. [HON. MEMBERS: "How many?"] Many thousands. It is in precisely the same terms as those presented by my right hon. Friend the Member for Southwark (Mr. Isaacs) and my hon. Friend the Member for Bermondsey (Mr. Mellish). The Petitioners ask that the Bill before the House should be amended, and they conclude: And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.

To lie upon the Table.