HOUSE OWNERS’ RIGHTS

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 128, 24 February 1938, Page 10

HOUSE OWNERS’ RIGHTS

As was predicted by responsible people, the Fair Rents Act, both in its original form and as amended last session, has aggravated the housing situation throughout the Dominion. According to the vicepresident of the Hastings Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, the legislation is being abused by house tenants, to the detriment of the owners in a number of directions. The Minister of Justice, as Mr. Bate told the Hastings chamber, has admitted that the Act is being turned to unfair advantage by people in possession 'of others’ property. It is a bad law directed aganst a section of the community unfortunate enough, as it has turned out, to own house property for letting. As it went initially to the Statute Book in 1936, the Act restricted the rents of occupied houses at the general level tenants were paying on May 1 of that year. It was ,the first blow aimed at what Socialist politicians have disparagingly designated the “landlord class.” In .the fade of rising repair costs and later of rates it operated harshly against many property-owners. In numerous cases landlords had treated their tenants considerately during the depression, often when .they themselves were in no position to carry a sustained loss. Though the legislation did not apply to houses built after May 1, 1936, in practice it exercised a strong and detrimental influence on house building for investment. Its immediate effect was to engender fear" of what was coming next. In the absence of confidence the property market cannot prosper. Thus, at a time of increasing national income whet) a revival of house building for investment should normally have been looked for, people were afraid to build. The result has been that neither the Government with its illconceived housing scheme nor private enterprise because of legislative interference, has been able to provide" the homes that are urgently needed. The decline in building permits everywhere has told the story. But the crowning injustice was the amendment of the Act last session, providing that the owner of a tenanted house must first find alternative accommodation for the tenant before he can sell or resume his own house. What has been the consequence? Tenants, under the protection of the law, have become a privileged class, and, to use a colloquialism, are “sitting tight.” 1 This was only to be expected. The worst feature as far as the housing shortage is influenced, is that in many reported instances owners prefer to keep their houses vacant rather than risk a deadlock in the event of either resuming occupation themselves or contemplating a sale. In an attempt to justify this clause, the Minister of Finance has cited cases where evictions are said to have caused hardship. There may be some such cases. Yet to protect the few the legislation has been made to apply with all its hardships to property owners as a class. It is class legislatiomand a tacit admission of the Government’s, failure to relieve the housing shortage. The evidence demonstrates that this has grown progressively more acute, despite the feverish activities of the Housing Department.