RENT OFFICERS AND APPLICATIONS FOR REGISTRATION OF RENT (Hansard, 19 May 1980)

§ Mr. Stanley
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Richard Crawshaw)
With this, it will be convenient to take Government amendment No. 148.

§ Mr. Stanley
The new clause and schedule stem from the recommendation of the working party on output and the 99 rent officer service which has just concluded its work. I shall place a copy of its report in the Library.
6.30 pm
The working party, which consisted primarily of serving rent officers, was set up last year to consider rent officer procedure with the object of examining the scope for streamlining and reducing delays. It was the first time that that had been done during the 15 years that the service had been in operation. I stress that neither its terms of reference nor its recommendations have an effect on the criteria according to which fair rents are fixed, or the independence of rent officers in fixing them. The working party is concerned solely with procedures.
The working party found a great variety of practice and procedure from area to area. It made a number of proposals for improving output without diminishing the quality of the rent officer service. Some of its proposals involve statutory changes, while others involve administrative changes.
We have consulted the Institute of Rent Officers on all the working party's recommendations. In the light of that consultation we have dropped one of its proposals, namely, that the initial indication of fair rent should be made by the rent officer, rather than that a person should apply for the fair rent to be registered. The proposals before the House are fully in accord with the working party's recommendations, but are slightly amended in accordance with the wishes of the Institute of Rent Officers.
There are four changes. First, the new clause gives a statutory recognition to the existing role of the county and senior rent officers heading rent registration areas, whose task is to allocate work between rent officers and supervise the administration of the rent officer service in their areas. Although this has been the practice for many years, and a senior rent officer has been responsible for each area, it has not been reflected in statute. We agree with the rent officer service that it should be, and that is the purpose of the new clause. The giving of statutory recognition to the position of senior rent officers is internal to the rent officer service and does not affect their relationship with central Government in any way.
100 Secondly, under the new schedule, which is amendment No. 148, rent officers will have a greater measure of discretion in the arranging of consultations with tenant and landlord. Both tenant and landlord will have an absolute right to consultation if they so wish.
Thirdly, rent officers will be able to organise a joint consultation on several tenancies—for example, where they are subject to an application by the same landlord. This will be convenient and efficient in blocks of flats or in housing association properties.
Finally, except where joint application is made, tenants and landlords will be able to appeal to rent assessment committees regardless of whether they made representations on the original application to the rent officer. This will provide a readier means of appeal to the rent assessment committee.
These changes are fully supported by the rent officer service, which has adopted a most commendable approach to considering how it can provide a quicker and more efficient service without reducing its quality. I commend these changes to the House.

§ Mr. W. Benyon
I have not read the report to which the Minister referred, but if the new clause results in a speeding up of the procedures it can do nothing but good.
One of the great difficulties at present arises on the question when the rent officer comes into the calculations. This is especially relevant in relation to new properties or to the revision of rents of existing properties. Did I understand from the last part of the Minister's speech that there is provision for consultation, when that is agreed, between landlord and tenant, and that that can mean an advance of the date when the rent has to be fixed?

§ Mr. Stanley
I assure my hon. Friend that it is possible for rent officers to arrange for consultations to take place in advance of the final determination of rent.

§ Mr. Hill
I did not have the privilege of being selected to consider the Bill in Committee, but I have been trying for some years to ascertain the formula that the rent officer uses to determine rents in a certain area. There seems to be some 101 black magic about the determination. To my knowledge, no qualified surveyor has ever plumbed the depth of knowledge of rent officers, many of them being not qualified. It seems that the black magic and the mystery——

§ Mr. Frank Field (Birkenhead)
rose——

§ Mr. Hill
—that surrounds the problem should be explained. I shall be obliged if my hon. Friend offers an explanation.

§ Mr. Stanley
The formula, the black magic, or however my hon. Friend wishes to describe the determination, is set out clearly in the 1965 Act. It is the statutory duty of rent officers to determine a rent in accordance with that formula; it is not for Ministers to suggest how they should interpret what is set out in the 1965 Act.

§ Mr. Hill
Is my hon. Friend saying that the formula is sufficiently flexible for the rent officer to determine his own yardstick when assessing a rent?

§ Mr. Stanley
It would not be proper for me to seek to produce an interpretation of the provisions that are set out in the 1965 Act. That must be a matter ultimately for the courts to decide. I shall be glad to refer my hon. Friend to the specific provision in the Act. He will learn from that that it is possible for rent officers to take into account all relevant circumstances.