ENG-1963 — Page 257

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Legislation

DURING the year 35 ordinances and a considerable volume of subsidiary legislation, mostly concerned with amending existing legislation, were enacted. The following short notes are intended only to draw attention to items of particular general or topical interest selected from a wide range of subjects.

Landlords and Tenants. The Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, Chapter 255 (1953 Reprint) gives a measure of protection to tenants against, inter alia, termination of tenancies of certain premises in pre-1945 buildings, by limiting the grounds upon which landlords may recover possession; but if buildings become danger- ous tenants can nevertheless lose possession by reason of demoli- tion of the buildings; similarly, where buildings are destroyed by fire or other calamity. In these cases the landlords recover posses- sion of the vacant site which, but for the demolition, they could not have done. The Demolished Buildings (Re-development of Sites) Ordinance was enacted in January to enable such protected tenants, dispossessed in this way, to obtain compensation from the owners, and, in addition, power was taken to require owners by order under this Ordinance to replace the building with a new, sound and substantial structure of no less volume than that demolished, failing which the Crown may re-enter upon the property.

Also of concern to landlords and tenants, the Rent Increases (Domestic Premises) Control Ordinance was enacted with the object of limiting, until the 30th June 1965, the amount of rent increases on certain domestic premises (which are not subject to the provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance) to such amount, generally not more than 10 per cent of the existing rent, as is fair and reasonable in the circumstances of each particular tenancy. The Ordinance prohibits, except by agreement between the parties, any increase within two years of an earlier increase or of the commencement of the tenancy. To achieve the necessary