TO SAFEGUARD TENANTS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 200, 21 May 1936, Page 8

TO SAFEGUARD TENANTS

A Temporary Measure NO EVICTION BEFORE INQUIRY Check on Exploitation The safeguarding of tenants against summary eviction will be the main purpose of a Bill which will be introduced in the House of Representatives within a few days. This measure will prevent the eviction of any tenant until the case has been considered by a magistrate, who will be given greater powers to deal with such eases. The Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage, said in an interview last night that the provisions of the Bill had been considered at a caucus of the Labour Party during the forenoon, when full approval was given to them. “The Bill is in no sense a solution of the rent and housing problem, and has been designed purely as a temporary measure for alleviating the conditions of working people until the whole question can be placed on a proper basis,” he said. “Our main objective is to avoid as far as possible acute distress among the poorer people. We also aim at checking exploitation of tenants by landlords seeking to take advantage of the higher wages which the worker will shortly enjoy. We do not say that all landlords would do this. In fact, the majority of them treat their tenants fairly. But there are some who have proved themselves to be unscrupulous, and it is that type that we desire to restrain.”

Mr. Savage emphasised that under the proposed legislation there could be no evictions without thorough consideration by a magistrate. It would be left to the sense of fairness of magistrates to decide how much a tenant could pay. It was recognised, of course, that landlords had their rights as well as tenants. “When we come later on in the session to deal with the problem in a permanent way we will have to see that our people are decently housed at fair rents and in houses fit to live In,” Mr. Savage added. “That, of course, means more employment and better wages. The whole scheme, including housing, will be gone thoroughly into in the second part of this session when legislation embodying the Government’s proposals will be introduced.”