RENT BILL [H.L.] (Hansard, 28 April 1977)

§ The LORD CHANCELLOR (Lord Elwyn-Jones)
My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a second time. This Bill consolidates the Rent Act 1968 and a number of subsequent enactments. The 1968 Act was itself a consolidating Act. It performed a useful service in bringing under one cover several complicated Statutes, the earliest of which was enacted in 1920, and whose provisions were once described by a learned Lord Justice as "a welter of chaotic verbiage". The history of rent control and security of tenure goes back to the First World War, and yet the present Bill is only the second piece of consolidating legislation in this field. Useful as was the 1968 Act at the time, subsequent developments in the constantly evolving housing situation and its treatment have rendered it now merely one of several Acts bearing on this subject, and the time has come for further consolidation.
This Bill, which has been prepared by the Law Commission, for whose continuing work in this field we have cause to be grateful, follows, so far as is possible, the structure of the Rent Act 1968. There has inevitably been some re-arrangement of old material, and some parts of the Bill deal with new subjects introduced into the Rent Act since 1968. In addition to the Rent Act 1968, the enactments con- 693 solidated include: first, Part III of the Housing Finance Act 1972, which provides for the conversion of controlled tenancies in good repair and possessing the standard amenities into regulated tenancies, and which replaces a broadly similar scheme introduced by Part III of the Housing Act 1969; secondly, Part IV of the Housing Finance Act 1972, which contains a number of miscellaneous provisions and which, as originally enacted, provided for the automatic decontrol of all controlled tenancies by stages spread over a number of years.
Section 35 was repealed by the Housing Rents and Subsidies Act 1975 before all the stages had been completed, but some controlled tenancies were converted into regulated tenancies under that section and the consolidation takes account of these conversions; thirdly, Part VIII of the Housing Finance Act 1972, which introduced a new form of rent control for tenancies of housing associations, housing trusts and housing corporations; fourthly, Section 14 of, and Schedule 5 to, the Counter-Inflation Act 1973, which extended the protection of the Rent Acts to certain high rateable value dwelling houses previously excluded; fifthly, Section 18 of, and Schedule 3 to, the Housing Act 1974, which altered the rules by which housing association tenancies are exempt from the general scheme of protection under the Rent Acts; sixthly, the Rent Act of 1974 itself, which extended full protection under the Rent Acts to the majority of furnished tenancies, in place of the special, and limited, protection given to furnished lettings by the 1968 Act; and finally, Sections 7 to 10 of the Housing Rents and Subsidies Act 1975.
The provisions of the Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976, which extended rent control and security of tenure to agricultural tied cottages, have not been incorporated in this Bill. The system of protection afforded by that Act, while broadly following the Rent Acts, exhibits a number of differences and has been designed to stand as a separate scheme. Adding its provisions to the consolidation would have meant an increase of some 70 pages in an already long and complicated Bill without benefiting the great majority of its users, who would not be concerned with the special provisions made for agricultural tied cottages. My Lords, I beg to move.

§ Lord HAILSHAM of SAINT MARYLEBONE
My Lords, I do not think the House need detain itself long over this measure, but I would wish to congratulate the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor on his continued work on the consolidation of British Statute Law, with the aid of the Law Commission. This particular consolidation Act provokes in me a melancholy reflection. It is the lineal descendent of a series of Statutes which began in 1915 designed to deal with what was thought to be the temporary housing shortage of the First World War, and it, like the squalid buildings in the courtyards of the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, form a melancholy commentary on the French adage, "Il n'y a rien ainsi permanent que le proviso ire". I would only close my remarks by saying that, if only this country had pursued policies to provide enough housing for its people, rent control would be unnecessary and security of tenure could be put on a rational basis.

Lord JANNER
My Lords, I should like to add a word of congratulation to the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor and to those who have participated in what I consider to be an extremely important endeavour to facilitate the understanding of a very complicated set of Acts, which, as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hailsham, has said, started in the year 1915. I do not think this is the time to raise any question as to the advantages or disadvantages of these Acts, but merely to refer to the fact that it is important that the public generally and the legal profession in particular, should have some clearer understanding of what they all mean and what principles they stand for. I have never known, in a very long experience in the profession, extending over some 50 years now, any measures which have caused so much difficulty in understanding what they really mean and which have caused such differences of opinion among the learned authorities who have sat as judges in the interpretation of the various Acts.
I think the Rent Acts have proved a boon to this country, but, as I say, this is not the time to discuss that. I think this shows that the Government are very 695 deeply concerned about helping the public and the professions to have in consolidated form our laws on specific subjects, that is some kind of complete form, or as complete as one can possibly make measures of this nature. With great pleasure I shall once again join in endeavouring to understand and perhaps eventually bring into effect, hopefully not in the very distant future, this very important measure. I hope that when Acts are consolidated, the Government, as previous Governments of all shades have done, will do their best to produce publications that are easily readable, so that the man in the street can understand the effects of the various provisions.