COMMONS AMENDMENT (Hansard, 21 October 1969)

§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, this is largely a non-contentious Bill which went to the Second Reading Committee in the other place by agreement of all Parties. I cannot contend that the Amendments that I am inviting your Lordships to consider are very exciting. One of them saves a possible injustice to landlords; one of them saves a possible injustice to tenants, and one safeguards the position of mortgagees who might be damaged by the closure of the Yorkshire Deeds Registries. The rest are largely technical.

In moving Amendment No. 1 perhaps I might invite your Lordships to consider also Amendment No. 5. Amendment No. 1 is to leave out Clause 4 and that is for the purpose of Amendment No. 5, which inserts in a new and important clause. It has the same objective as Clause 4 had; that is, to enable a landlord who has let business premises to a tenant who in turn has sub-let part to a business sub-tenant to bring the tenancy and the sub-tenancy to an end at the same time. The clause accordingly gives effect to recommendation (d) in the Law Commission Report on the 1954 Act, Part II, and the underlying reasons for the clause are those set out in paragraphs 27 and 28 of that Report. The new clause has been drafted in consultation with the Law Commission and will achieve the aims of the Commission's recommendation in a number of cases where Clause 4 would not have done so. It will enable the head landlord to terminate both the tenancy and the sub-tenancy at the same time not only where he himself has taken the initiative by terminating the intermediate tenancy (that is Clause 4), but also where tenancy has been terminated at the instance of the intermediate tenant where Clause 4 did not operate, and it will ensure that in many cases where the intermediate tenant or the sub-tenant takes steps which could lead to a renewal of the sub-tenancy contrary to the head landlord's wishes the head landlord will be enabled to protect his interests. I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 1.