The Gazette 1949-1952

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. S 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

which ought to save a great deal o£ time for sol­ icitors. R ents and L easeholds C 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