Justice 1 Committee, 14 Feb 2001

Meeting date: Wednesday, February 14, 2001

Official Report 295KB pdf

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Leasehold Casualties (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

We move to stage 2 discussion of the Leasehold Casualties (Scotland) Bill. I am sorry about the cramped accommodation. I hope that the fact they must sit next to each other does not give the impression of collusion between the minister, Mr Iain Gray, and the promoter of the bill, Mr Adam Ingram.

I do not think that the presence of a television camera indicates any surge of interest in the bill; I think that it is here for a later agenda item.

Section 1—Extinction of leasehold casualties

Amendment 1, in the name of the minister, is grouped with amendment 6, which is also in the name of Mr Jim Wallace.

As I said during the stage 1 debate, the bill as introduced will affect only leases that are granted for periods of not less than 300 years. That is to avoid inadvertently catching other provisions in modern commercial leases. The Scottish Law Commission has, however, revealed that very few commercial leases exist for periods longer than 125 years. A small number of residential leases of less than 300 years have been found, which include casualty clauses. The bill's intention, of course, is to abolish all such liabilities. Amendment 1 proposes to reduce the length of a relevant lease from 300 years to 175 years. That is also the longest period of commercial lease that will be permitted under the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc (Scotland) Act 2000. Under other legislation, residential leases can be granted only for periods of up to 20 years.

Amendment 6 is grouped with amendment 1. The Scottish Law Commission has suggested putting it beyond doubt whether certain leases with renewal or break points fall within the scope of the bill. Amendment 6 clarifies the definition of the length of relevant leases for the purposes of the bill. It would provide that, in relation to leases with renewal periods, those periods should be included when calculating the length of the lease. For leases with break options, the lengths of those leases and not the period until the next possible break option will be treated as the full term. In other words, a lease with two break points at 100 year intervals would be treated as a lease of 300 years and therefore a relevant lease under the bill.

I move amendment 1.

I am happy to support amendments 1 and 6. It seems entirely sensible to accept the advice of the Scottish Law Commission on both matters. The commission has developed a considerable body of knowledge about long leases. The most recent survey suggests that limiting the bill to leases of 300 years or more would not include all leases with casualty clauses.

The 175-year limit that is proposed in amendment 1 would cover all the leases that could contain casualty clauses, without encroaching on modern commercial leases. Amendment 6 would provide sensible clarification. Like other amendments that we will consider this morning, it is designed to ensure that the bill protects those whom it is designed to protect.

As all the amendments this morning are Executive amendments, I will first call the minister, followed by Adam Ingram. If any other committee member wishes to say anything, they may do so.

Amendment 1 agreed to.

Section 1, as amended, agreed to.

Sections 2 and 3 agreed to.

Schedules 1 and 2 agreed to.

Section 4 agreed to.

Section 5—Irritancy provisions in certain leases to be void

Amendment 2 is in the name of Mr Jim Wallace.

Section 5 of the bill removes the landlord's right to irritate an ultra-long lease for non-payment of a trivial amount of rent. The section is, at present, confined to leases that are granted for 300 years or more with a ground rent of not more than £100. Amendment 1 has already been agreed to, which will decrease the qualifying period of lease to 175 years. That was in light of research by the Scottish Law Commission. The same research revealed some leases that had a rent of just over £100. Amendment 2 brings such leases within the scope of section 5.

I move amendment 2.

I support that amendment.

Amendment 2 agreed to.

Section 5, as amended, agreed to.

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After section 5

Amendment 3, in the name of Mr Jim Wallace, is grouped with amendments 4 and 7. I call the minister to move amendment 3 and to speak to the other amendments in the group.

As I indicated at stage 1, we propose that the bill be extended to provide that all rights of irritancy, which allow the landlord to terminate for breach of the lease by the tenant, will be void. Amendment 3 would ensure beyond doubt that the provisions cover the landlord's common-law right to terminate a lease for non-payment of two years' rent, as well as covering conventional irritancy clauses.

Amendment 4 would make the proposed new section retrospective to 12 February—the day on which amendment 3 was lodged. Amendment 7 would simply extend the long title of the bill to accommodate the proposed new section.

I move amendment 3.

I support amendments 3,4 and 7.

Since the bill was first published, have any incidents been reported that amendment 3 would address?

Not to my knowledge.

Amendment 3 agreed to.

Section 6 agreed to.

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Section 7—Transitional application of sections 5 and 6

Amendment 4 moved—[Iain Gray]—and agreed to.

I call the minister to move amendment 5.

Amendment 5 would simply correct a slip-up in the drafting of the bill and replace "repeal" with "appeal". It has no policy implications. I move amendment 5.

Amendment 5 agreed to.

Section 7, as amended, agreed to.

Section 8 agreed to.

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Section 9—Interpretation

Amendment 6 moved—[Iain Gray]—and agreed to.

Section 9, as amended, agreed to.

Section 10 agreed to.

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Long Title

Amendment 7 moved—[Iain Gray]—and agreed to.

Long title, as amended, agreed to.

That concludes stage 2 consideration of the Leasehold Casualties (Scotland) Bill.