§ Mr. Englishasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when it is proposed to introduce the measures foreshadowed in the housing Green Paper to enable home owners who let their homes while they are temporarily absent to recover possession more quickly.
§ Mr. ShoreNew rules to permit this have been made by my right hon. and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor under section 142 of the Rent Act 1977, and will come into effect today. They are being introduced as an alternative to the30W ordinary procedure, and should enable returning owner-occupiers with a mandatory right to repossession of their property to obtain a hearing of their case in the county court within two to three weeks. This measure should help to alleviate the difficulties that some owner-occupiers have experienced in the past, and I hope it will encourage any who have been deterred from letting their property through fear of delays in recovering possession. Nevertheless, I would still strongly advise those who have let their property in this way to give warning in plenty of time before they need to re-occupy it.