EXTENDED DISCRETION OF COURT IN POSSESSION CLAIMS (Hansard, 9 June 1988)

§ Mr. Waldegrave
I beg to move amendment No. 24, in page 8, line 29, after 'dwelling-house', insert '(a)'.

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this it will be convenient to consider Government amendment No. 25.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
Perhaps I may comment briefly on parallelism with Scotland because on this occasion we propose to make a change that has been made in the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988. Perhaps I may correct the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Mr. Soley). The Scottish Bill does not make the three-months rent arrears ground discretionary. I should have known that but perhaps the hon. Gentleman should also have known it. We are moving in step on that matter and now propose to move in step on this matter.
The two amendments ensure that the court does not have the power to suspend possession or adjourn proceedings, as it does in ordinary assured tenancies, when it is considering a shorthold possession case. It may not adjourn proceedings or suspend execution of a possession 1044 order when it is satisfied that the landlord is entitled to possession on any of the mandatory grounds in schedule 2 to the Bill. Shorthold is a mandatory ground for repossession even though it does not appear in the list of mandatory grounds. It is of course a mandatory case for repossession under the Rent Act 1977—case 19. Clearly the court cannot have the power to suspend possession of a shorthold tenancy. It is the essence of a shorthold tenancy that the landlord is guaranteed possession provided he has served the correct notice. The amendments give effect to this, and I trust that hon. Members will accept that this must be so. It is logical that it should be so.

§ Mr. Tim Devlin (Stockton, South)
These two amendments are small and technical and have been introduced by the Government at this late stage. Many of the amendments that we are dealing with could have been tabled by the Government much earlier. On a Bill related to the housing of the nation many Back Benchers who did not have an opportunity to speak on Committee want to speak on Report about the general nature of housing law. Unfortunately, we are constrained to sit on the Benches while a number of rather trivial technical points are introduced by the Government simply because the drafting has been inadequate. I make the point at this stage by way of protest.

§ Mr. McCartney
I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way.

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker
Order. I think that the hon. Member for Stockton, South (Mr. Devlin) had sat down. If the hon. Member for Makerfield (Mr. McCartney) wishes to make a speech he is free to do so.

§ Mr. McCartney
The points made by the hon. Member for Stockton, South were precisely the points that we detailed earlier. Perhaps he could tell the House how he voted when we divided the House earlier.