HL Deb 05 May 1983 vol 442 cc236-7

7.8 p.m.

The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (The Earl of Gowrie) rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 19th April be approved.

The noble Earl said: My Lords, before I turn to the details of the order I should like quickly to refer to the role played by the Northern Ireland Assembly in the consultative process. On 13th December last year my right honourable friend the Secretary of State referred the proposal for this order to the Assembly for consideration and comment. The report of the Assembly's careful deliberations, which fully supports the change in legislation propounded in the order, has been laid before your Lordships' House.

The purpose of this short but important piece of legislation is to simplify the manner in which mortgages in Northern Ireland may be discharged. The order contains just one substantive article, Article 3, which sets out the main principle underlying the order—that a receipt is sufficient to discharge the mortgage and revest the property. The article further provides in paragraph (3) that the receipt shall be given in the form set out in the schedule, and paragraphs (4) and (5) prescribe certain requirements for the receipt. Paragraph (6) provides for registration of the receipt in the Registry of Deeds.

The order will be of benefit to the public and to the legal profession: to the former because it will provide a cheaper method of discharge; to the latter because it will replace a cumbersome method of working with a simpler one. It has been warmly welcomed by those bodies which will be directly affected by it—the solicitors' profession and the main banks which carry on business in Northern Ireland. A number of useful technical drafting amendments, made by commentators, have been incorporated into the order since it was published as a proposal. None of the changes affected the substance of the order.

My Lords, at a time when the mortgage marketplace is no longer the sole preserve of the building societies, as banks and other financial institutions have begun to enter this arena, it is right that the method of discharging mortgages be uniform across the board. This the order achieves. I beg to move.

Moved, That the draft order laid before the House on 19th April be approved.—(The Earl of Gowrie.)

Lord Underhill

My Lords, may I thank the noble Earl for explaining the purpose of the order, and say briefly that we welcome it for four reasons: first, as the noble Earl said, it was brought before the Assembly—we are pleased to note that—and they gave it approval; secondly, there were consultations with the professional bodies concerned; thirdly, I understand it will bring the Northern Ireland law on this matter into line with that appertaining in England and Wales; and fourthly (possibly as important as any), it will bring a cheaper and simpler system of revesting property. For those four reasons we welcome the order.

On Question, Motion agreed to.