By Baroness Gardner of Parkes - 7th November 2011
Baroness Gardner of Parkes calls for a consolidation act ahead of her questions to the Lords asking the government "whether they will consolidate all Landlord and Tenant legislation."
My question has been brought to me mainly by leaseholders – and there are now large numbers of people who are leaseholders. I have always declared my property interests in the Lords Register, and do so again.
Landlord and tenant legislation is extremely complex, and made the more so by the number of Acts that have amended some part of a previous Act, which may already have amended some previous Act.
There have been a succession of statutes constantly altering clauses in previous Acts, making interpretation of leasehold law excessively difficult. Many leaseholders would like to know more of their rights and responsibilities but as the law stands it is difficult even for members of the legal profession to trace all the necessary changes and clearly determine the present law.
A consolidation Act brings together all the past Acts on a subject and removes any doubt as to what is the current law on a subject. Unfortunately it is never easy to persuade any government to spend the great amount of time it can take to bring forward such an Act.
This question is a rather technical legal one. There are so many laws that would benefit from consolidation.
Trixie Gardner is the former Lady Mayoress of Westminster (1987-88) and GLC councillor (1970-86). She was raised to the peerage in 1981 and sits on the Conservative benches.
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