The Gazette 1949-1952

which ought to save a great deal o£ time for sol

icitors.

ents

and

easeholds

ommission

In response to the invitation published by the

Commission asking bodies, such as this Society, to

draw up and submit evidence on the working of the

Rent Acts and the Landlord and Tenant Acts, the

Council appointed a Committee o f three to consider

the matter and to tender evidence to the Com

mission. Solicitors, from their daily experience in

advising both landlords and tenants, ought to be

in a position to make a practical contribution to the

solution o f the problems which come within the

terms of reference o f the Commission. There is no

doubt that the Rent Restriction Acts in their

present form have become outmoded, and com

pletely unsuited to our present social and economic

conditions. It may be that if there were complete

freedom of contract between landlord and tenant,

there would be a resulting increase in the supply of

houses to meet the demand which would, in due

course, by the effect o f competition, cause rents to

fall to a resonable level. I fear, however, that a

wish of this kind is Utopian and that world con

ditions have restricted, and will continue to restrict,

building supplies to such an extent that the demand

for houses will continue to exceed the supply. In

these circumstances some form o f restriction is

necessary to prevent undue hardship to tenants,

particularly o f the poorer class. At the same time

it is obvious that the formula o f rent control which

was first devised in 1914, and has continued on the

same basis down to 1941, is altogether unsuited to

modern conditions. In some cases rents are too

low and landlords are unable to obtain any sort of

reasonable return for the money which they have

invested. This results in their unwillingness to

spend any money on the property in order to keep

it in repair, and also curtails the willingness o f the

public to invest in house property for letting pur

poses, causing an inflated demand for property for

residential purposes, which, in itself, tends to

increase the price o f houses. On the other hand

there are cases in which tenants are being grossly

over-charged.

This was particularly noticeable

during the later years o f the War and immediately

afterwards when the demand for property was such

that people were prepared to pay any rent for

furnished dwellings. Some form o f rent control is

absolutely essential in the public interest. It may

be that a system could be devised whereby either

the landlord or tenant would have the right to apply

to the Court at periodic intervals to have a fair rent

fixed, on the lines o f the procedure for the fixing of

judicial rents o f agricultural holdings under the

Land Act, 1881. The obvious drawback to this is

that the number o f applications might be so great as

to present serious administrative difficulties, but on

the other hand the mere existence o f such machinery

might induce both landlords and tenants to be

reasonable, which, in itself, would make applications

to the Court unnecessary. An illustration of the

moderating effect o f judicial machinery for fixing

rents is provided by the Landlord and Tenant Act,

1931. Either landlord or tenant may apply to the

Court to fix the terms o f a new lease, but in practice

the vast majority o f cases are settled by negotiation

and not nore than 5 per cent, or 10 per cent, of them

reach the stage o f an application to the Court.

The Commission will no doubt receive proposals

from various bodies representing both landlords

and tenants. It is to be hoped that they will arrive

at a solution which will do justice to all parties.

One thing seems clear and that is that the present

position whereby some houses are controlled on

the basis o f the economic rents which obtained in

1914, and others on the basis o f rents which obtained

in 1941, does justice to neither the landlord nor the

tenant. What is needed is a simple Act which will

lay down the formula for the control o f rents o f all

houses within the prescribed limits which will

commend itself to the understanding and sense of

justice o f the public. The evidence to be tendered

by this Society will be unprejudiced. We do not

represent either landlords or tenants in this matter.

The Committee appointed to give evidence has

sought the views o f members o f the profession who

are considered to have experience of the working

o f the Acts, and with these views before them they

will seek to draw up a balanced memorandum for

the Commission which will point out the defects in

the existing system and suggest possible amend

ments which will give the Commission some

material for formulating a new policy.

olicitors

’ B

ill

As you will have seen from the report o f the

Council in your hands, the Council have been con

tinually pressing the Government for the intro

duction of the Solicitors’ Bill. The Bill was sub

mitted to the Department o f Justice in 1943, and

was the subject o f various memoranda and con

ferences between the Department and this Society.

Part IX of the Bill makes provision for the setting

up o f a Compensation Fund to safeguard clients

against losses incurred through solicitors’ defal

cations. There is nothing in the Bill which will put a

penny extra in any solicitor’s pocket, but the Council

are certain that if the Bill were enacted it would be

to advantage of the profession as well as the public,

in so far as it would increase the public confidence