§ 4.30 p.m.
§ Mr. Arthur Davidson (Accrington)I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to provide for the compulsory apportionment of existing ground rent charges, and to make new provision for the collection and payment of such charges.This will not be a Ten-Minute Rule Bill; it will be a two-minute rule Bill.The purpose of the proposed Bill is to put an end to an antiquated and complicated system of land tenure, particularly common in Lancashire, by which the owner of the freehold of his house is obliged, without consultation and reward, to collect rent charges from several of his neighbours, submit them to the rent owner, and, if the neighbours do not pay, to make up any deficiency himself. This is not only a tedious burden, but can cause bad feeling among those living near each other in that the person being asked to pay the money may not be responsible. He may be merely a tenant or sub-tenant; the person responsible may, in fact, live in a different part of the country and be unaware of any obligation on his part to pay.
The original rent charges were frequently created in the last century. It is an antiquated and archaic system, and the Law Commission has severely criticised it.
The present method by which a person can get his rent apportioned and get rid of the burden is also costly and time-consuming. Though the Department of the Environment is most helpful, the amount of work involved is out of all proportion to the sum, which is usually about £2 a year.
The Bill seeks to make it the responsibility of the rent owner to collect and 263 to provide that the landowner should be merely liable to pay his own rent charge. I therefore ask the leave of the House to present the Bill.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. Arthur Davidson, Mr. Kenneth Marks, Mr. Michael Cocks, Mr. Charles Fletcher-Cooke, Mr. Maurice Orbach, Mr. Walder, Mr. Alfred Morris, Mr. Ian Percival, Mr. Dan Jones, Mr. Gerald Kaufman, Mr. Tom Pendry, and Mr. David Waddington.