§ Lord Mason of Barnsleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will take steps to protect licensees of public houses from the efforts made by brewers such as Whitbreads to terminate tied tenancy agreements in those public houses before the introduction of the Landlord and Tenant (Licensed 62WA Premises) Act in July 1992; and what steps can be taken to ensure that these measures will not jeopardise the tenants' position under the projected landlord and tenant legislation.
§ Lord HeskethTenancies entered into after 10th July are already protected by the Landlord and Tenant Act, while those entered into before that date will be protected by Ilth July 1992 at the latest. The Government are naturally concerned about threats by Whitbread to issue "notices to quit" to those of its tenants who are not yet protected by the Act. We understand that most of these notices will be issued for the purpose of renegotiating the terms of tenancy agreements and will not ultimately lead to evictions. My right honourable friend has recently urged Whitbread to keep the numbers sent out to the absolute minimum and to make their purpose clear to tenants. He also encouraged the company to consider carefully ways of complying with the requirement of the beer orders that they release pubs from ties which do not result in the eviction of their tenants.