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Lord Falconer of Thoroton : My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 62 to 66.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 62 to 66.—(Lord Falconer of Thoroton.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
(a) a tenancy to which Part 2 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (c. 56) (business tenancies) applies,
(c) a tenancy of an agricultural holding within the meaning of the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 (c. 5) in relation to which that Act applies, or
(d) a farm business tenancy within the meaning of the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 (c. 8).
(5) In this section—
"administration charge" has the same meaning as in Part 1 of Schedule 11,
"dwelling" has the same meaning as in the 1985 Act,
"landlord" and "tenant" have the same meaning as in Chapter 1 of this Part,
"long lease" has the meaning given by sections 74 and 75 of this Act, except that a shared ownership lease is a long lease whatever the tenant's total share,
"prescribed" means prescribed by regulations made by the appropriate national authority, and
"service charge" has the meaning given by section 18(1) of the 1985 Act."
64After Clause 162, insert the following new clause—
"Power to prescribe additional or different requirements
(1) The appropriate national authority may by regulations prescribe requirements which must be met before a right of re-entry or forfeiture may be exercised in relation to a breach of a covenant or condition in a long lease of an unmortgaged dwelling.
(2) The regulations may specify that the requirements are to be in addition to, or instead of, requirements imposed otherwise than by the regulations.
(3) In this section long lease of a dwelling" does not include—
(a) a tenancy to which Part 2 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (c. 56) (business tenancies) applies,
(e) a tenancy of an agricultural holding within the meaning of the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 (c. 5) in relation to which that Act applies, or
(f) a farm business tenancy within the meaning of the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 (c. 8).
(4) For the purposes of this section a dwelling is unmortgaged if it is not subject to a mortgage, charge or lien.
(5) In this section—
"dwelling" has the same meaning as in the 1985 Act, and
"long lease" has the meaning given by sections 74 and 75 of this Act, except that a shared ownership lease is a long lease whatever the tenant's total share."
65Clause 163, page 85, line 4, leave out "159" and insert "(Insurance otherwise than with landlord's insurer)"
66Clause 163, page 85, line 4, at end insert "and sections (Failure to pay small amount for short period) and (Power to prescribe additional or different requirements)"
67Clause 166, page 86, line 9, at end insert—
"(5A) The Lands Tribunal may not order a party to the appeal to pay costs incurred by another party in connection with the appeal unless he has, in the opinion of the Lands Tribunal, acted frivolously, vexatiously, abusively, disruptively or otherwise unreasonably in connection with the appeal.
Where a case involves an appeal against a decision made by a leasehold valuation tribunal, the Lands Tribunal cannot award costs unless a party has acted frivolously, vexatiously, abusively, disruptively, or otherwise unreasonably, in connection with the appeal. Moreover the maximum costs will be limited to £500, or such other amount as may be specified in regulation. This will provide leaseholders with far greater certainty and, thus, encourage them to exercise the rights that Parliament has granted to them. I see that the noble Baroness, Lady Gardner of Parkes, has just returned to the Chamber. I hope that she will agree that this amendment meets her concerns.
Amendment No. 83 is a technical amendment, which makes it clear that the £500 limitation on the ward of costs applies only to costs awarded under paragraph 10 of Schedule 12.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 67.—(Lord Falconer of Thoroton.)
Baroness Gardner of Parkes: My Lords, I should just like to express my thanks to the Minister. I received a message on my pager regarding an urgent phone call; otherwise I should have been present to hear the Minister's opening remarks. I shall, of course, read his introduction in Hansard.
On Question, Motion agreed to.
(5B) In such a case the amount he may be ordered to pay shall not exceed the maximum amount which a party to proceedings before a leasehold valuation tribunal may be ordered to pay in the proceedings under or by virtue of paragraph 10(3) of Schedule 12."
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 67. In doing so, I shall speak also to Amendment No. 83. Both amendments are linked to the award of costs. Amendment No. 67 would limit the power of the Lands Tribunal to award costs. When the Bill was previously before the House, the noble Baroness, Lady Gardner of Parkes, who, unfortunately, is not now in her place, argued most persuasively that the Lands Tribunal's unlimited power to award costs could discourage leaseholders from exercising their rights. We promised then that we would explore the scope for amending the Bill in the other place in order to address the concerns expressed by the noble Baroness. Amendment No. 67 is a result of that exploration.
68Clause 169, page 86, line 36, after "under" insert "section (Failure to pay small amount for short period) or (Power to prescribe additional or different requirements) or"
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 68.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 68.—(Lord Falconer of Thoroton.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
69Clause 172, page 87, line 19, at beginning insert "Apart from section 102 and sections 168 to 170,"
70Page 87, line 27, after "1" insert "or section 171 and Schedule 14 so far as relating to section 102"
71Page 87, line 28, after "14" insert "so far as otherwise relating"
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 69 to 71. I should like to speak also to Amendment No. 85. This group of technical amendments is intended to bring about the early commencement of Clause 102 and Clauses 168, 169 and 170, and subsequently to provide for the repeal of Clause 102.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 69 to 71.—(Lord Falconer of Thoroton.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
72Clause 174, page 87, line 35, leave out subsection (2)
73Schedule 5, page 95, line 6, leave out "(1) and (2)"
74Page 96, line 25, leave out "section 21" and insert "Sections 21 and 22"
75Page 96, leave out lines 27 to 32
76Schedule 8, page 112, line 13, leave out from "tenants" to end of line 14 and insert ", as" substitute "persons who are participating members of the RTE company immediately before a binding contract is entered into in pursuance of the initial notice, as". and
(b) for "participating tenants, once" substitute "those participating members, once".
77Schedule 11, page 121, line 23, leave out from "Schedule" to end of line 28 and insert ""variable administration charge" means an administration charge payable by a tenant which is neither—
(a) specified in his lease, nor
(b) calculated in accordance with a formula specified in his lease."
78Page 122, line 12, at end insert—
"Notice in connection with demands for administration charges
3A (1) A demand for the payment of an administration charge must be accompanied by a summary of the rights and obligations of tenants of dwellings in relation to administration charges.
The appropriate national authority may make regulations prescribing requirements as to the form and content of such summaries of rights and obligations.
(3) A tenant may withhold payment of an administration charge which has been demanded from him if sub-paragraph (1) is not complied with in relation to the demand.
Where a tenant withholds an administration charge under this paragraph, any provisions of the lease relating to non-payment or late payment of administration charges do not have effect in relation to the period for which he so withholds it."
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