FAIR RENTS BILL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 23 October 1942, Page 4

FAIR RENTS BILL

AMENDMENT BY LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL RIGHTS OF SERVICEMEN SAIEGL ARIIED IFiom Our Own Bai li:»:n< n’.ai i Reporter! Wellington, This Day. An important amendment to the fair Rent- Amendment Bill was made by the Legislative Council yesterday, and was subsequently approved by the House of Representative... The amendment safeguards the rights of sei v.cement and their dependants, whcthei they are owners or lenanis of dwelling houses, giving them preference of occupancy over people who are riot servicemen. or their dependants. Where both parties in a dispute are servicemen or their dependants, the deed ion is left to a Magistrate. The amendment provides that a landlord who is not a serviceman cannot obtain possession of a dwelling house from a tenant who is serviceman, or w:fc or widow ot a erviccmnn. so long as the tenant pays H„. ,-cni, lakes reasonable care of the premises, and is not a nui.-unce to the neighbour-. When the landlord is a serviceman and the tenant is a serviceman. « wife or widow of a serviceman, or dependant of a serviceman, and the landlord wants to return to his own house which he occupied before commencing his servi.e. the Court may refuse to make an order for possession after considering the relative hardship of the two parties. It will not be necessary. however, for the landlord to find alternative accommodation for the tenant or to prove affirmatively that his hardship is greater than the tenants. When a serviceman wants possession of his own house to resume Jiving in it. and the tenant is not a serviceman or wife or widow of a serviceman, the landlord will have an absolute right to an order for possession. Following an explanation of the amendment by the Attorney-General (Mr Mason) the Leader of the Opposition (Mr S. G. Holland) said he thought the new provisions were an improvement, hut that they confirmed the view he had expressed previously that more time should be taker, over such Bills. The Prime Minister 'Mr Fraser' replied that there was nothing unusual in the course events had taken. There had never been an Opposition that had not complained about lack of time for settling legislative problems.