§ 20. Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will introduce legislation to prohibit landlords from writing decontrolled in the rent books of tenants of controlled houses.
§ Sir K. JosephWhile I deplore such action by landlords, I have heard only of the one case reported to me by the hon. Member for Salford, East (Mr. Frank Allaun), and I hardly think on the evidence that legislation would be justified.
§ Mr. AllaunIs the Minister aware that this Question arises from a letter I sent to him about a Salford widow who had lived for thirty-one years in her controlled house without a penny of arrears, against whom this kind of threat was tried, although since I wrote to the Minister the rent has not been raised? As the Minister replied to me that he took a serious view of this kind of thing when I wrote to him about a rather similar case of a 70-year-old pensioner in a neighbouring street to whom an eviction order had been sent by registered post, will he now take legal action in both cases?
§ Sir K. JosephI have no evidence that these practices are on a wide enough scale to justify legislation. Such malpractices, if they exist in a few cases, do not diminish in any degree the controlled status of the tenancy.
§ Mr. FletcherOught it not to be an offence for a landlord to put any untrue information in a rent book?
§ Sir K. JosephThere is power in the local authorities to prosecute for an 231 offence against the Act requiring full information to be put in rent books. I should like to consider the point made by the hon. Gentleman.
§ Sir C. OsborneOught not this matter to be kept in perspective? Although a case like this is deplorable and is deplored on both sides of the House, should it not be remembered that there are hundreds of thousands of cases and that this is only one out of hundreds of thousands?