HC Deb 14 July 1995 vol 263 cc1268-9

Lords amendment: No. 85, in page 11, line 1, at beginning insert— ("(1ZA) The enactments specified in Schedule (Consequential amendments) are amended in accordance with that Schedule, the amendments being consequential on the provisions of this Act.")

Mr. Thurnham

I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendments.

Mr. Deputy Speaker

With this, it will be convenient to discuss also Lords amendments Nos. 86, 87 and 89.

Mr. Thurnham

This is the final group of amendments. Once more, they are technical amendments, some of which have already been touched on, so I shall be brief.

Clause 21, which becomes clause 30 as amended, provides for appeals and consequential amendments. It will, I think, come as no surprise to hear that the detailed revision of the Bill has resulted in there being more consequential amendments than before and in some rearrangement of those already in clause 21.

Amendment No. 85 paves the way for the rest. It provides for a new schedule of consequential amendments and amendment No. 86 deletes the consequential amendments in subsection (2) of clause 21, since those are moved to that schedule. Amendment No. 87 makes consequential changes to the references in subsection (3) of clause 21.

Finally, amendment No. 89 introduces the new schedule of consequential amendments, which contains, in particular, consequential amendments to the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 and the Trustee Act 1925, to which reference has already been made.

I am grateful to the House for listening to me for such a long time. I hope that hon. Members will agree that it was worth it.

Mr. John M. Taylor

My hon. Friend's explanation of this final group of technical amendments has been as helpful as all his earlier explanations, and I am grateful for his hard work today. I commend these amendments and the Bill to the House.

As our work comes towards a conclusion I must say that I have been privileged to take part in bringing this legislation to the statute book and to ending the unfairness of the privity rule in landlord and tenant legislation. Many years ago—longer ago than I would care to confess—I studied the law of landlord and tenant as a young law student, although I never really mastered it, and encountered the operation of the doctrines of privity of contract and of estate. As a young man, I thought them profoundly unfair.

I then practised for more than 20 years as a provincial high street solicitor and used to warn those of my clients who were about to sign commercial leases, frequently for lock-up shops, of the operation of this rule. I used to reflect with them on how unfair I thought it was but they must know about it and accept its operation with their eyes open and with every care and vigilance.

Having seen the rule as a student and worked with it as a practitioner of the law, I find myself at the Dispatch Box as a legislator, or a junior member of the Government, preparing to give the rule of privity the coup de grace. I hope that the House will forgive me if I take a certain pleasure in being in this place at this time doing this thing.

Some of those with an interest in the commencement date of these provisions may be within earshot. The commencement date is no trivial matter because a whole industry with its advising professions will have to come to terms with this change in the law. Many learned articles will have to be written, read and disputed, seminars held and lectures given before the profession and the industries involved—the property, pension and retail industries—come to terms with one of the most important changes in English property law since 1925. This country's commerce is very much about property law and always has been. In 1925 great changes took place under the auspices of that remarkable man, Lord Birkenhead.

I am about to take the lid off the jar and say when I think that commencement might be. It is a matter for the Lord Chancellor who has an order-making power in this regard, but I believe that the commencement date will be 1 January 1996, which, fittingly, will be the 70th anniversary of the Birkenhead legislation.

Mr. Thurnham

I thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and through you I thank Madam Speaker, for the opportunity to bring this Bill to the House and, I hope, to the statute book.

Today is a red letter day and 1 January 1996 will obviously be the most important day on which many small businesses and shop keepers will be released from the fear that their landlords may pursue them for many years afterwards. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to bring a Bill, which was not lucky in the ballot, to a successful conclusion.

Lords amendment agreed to.

Lords amendments Nos. 86 to 89 agreed to.