§ Mr. Whitakerasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what is the number of rents raised and lowered, respectively, following applications to rent officers under the Rent Act, 1965; how many of such applications came from landlords and how many from tenants; how many rent officers' determinations were raised and lowered, respectively, by rent assessment panels; and how many tenants have made use of the plan for surveyors' assistance to date.
§ Mr. MacCollOut of some 69,400 cases analysed to date in England and Wales, the previous rent was reduced in 22,900, increased in 40,000, and left unchanged in 6,500. 33,900 cases resulted from landlords' applications, 24,500 from tenants' and 11,000 were joint applications. Among the cases analysed, an appeal to the rent assessment committee was made in 6,671 cases. The rent decided by the rent officer was reduced in 1,103 of these cases, confirmed in 2,438 and increased in 3,130.
All the above figures exclude cases where the basis on which the rent officer determined the rent was not comparable to the basis on which the previous rent rested.
During 1968, the first year of operation of the Surveyors' Aid Scheme in Greater London, 39 tenants responding to landlords' appeals and 32 tenants initiating their own appeals, applied for and received assistance under the Scheme.