HL Deb 04 February 1980 vol 404 c1146WA
The Marquess of AILESBURY

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they accept that arbitrators required to fix rents for 21-year leases which provide for no rent reviews during that period are placed by modern British inflation in an impossible position; and whether they plan legislation to remedy the resulting injustice.

The LORD CHANCELLOR (Lord Hailsham of Saint Marylebone)

Subject to statute, landlords and tenants are free to choose the method by which, and the stages at which, rents are to be fixed. Where the method is arbitration, the arbitrator may draw on his professional experience and skill or be assisted by expert evidence. The Government have no present plans for legislation on this subject.