§ 33. Mr. Sorensenasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs, in view of the fact that estate and property invest- 208 ment companies, dealing with working-class domestic property, have offered financial inducements to controlled tenants to vacate their dwellings, and that in such instances rents have subsequently been raised for new tenants of such dwellings by 100 to 150 per cent., if he will introduce legislation to protect new tenants in such circumstances.
§ Mr. H. BrookeNo, Sir. To reimpose control on houses or flats which have become decontrolled would be a sure way of bringing it about that when next they fall vacant they would be sold and not let.
§ Mr. SorensenIs not the right hon. Gentleman aware of the letter that was sent to him by the Lea Bridge Tenants' Association—in my constituency of Leyton—about an investment company operating in this way? Surely it was not his desire or intention that the rents of decontrolled houses for working-class tenants should rise by 150 per cent. or 200 per cent.? Cannot he take some action in this matter?
§ Mr. BrookeWhat matters is not the percentage increase in the rent but its level now. If the owners ask for an excessive rent they will not get tenants.
§ Mr. SorensenIn view of the unsatisfactory nature of that reply, I beg to give notice that I shall raise this matter at the earliest opportunity.