NOTES OF CASES
| Published date | 01 January 1947 |
| Date | 01 January 1947 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1947.tb00039.x |
NOTES
OF
CASES
RENT
RESTRICTION
ACTS-FURNITURE
AND
SERVICES
THE complementary decisions of
Palser
v.
Grinling,
[1946]
2
All
E.R.
287
and
Property
Holding
Co.
v.
Mischefl, ibid.
294,
together constitute perhaps the most important judicial
ruling yet given on the Rent Acts.
An
immediate comment on
them
is
therefore necessary even although one
or
other is going
to the House of Lords.
The joint effect of section
3
(2)
(b)
of the Rent Act,
1939,
and section
10
of
the Act of
1928
is to exclude from
the operation of the Acts ‘any dwelling-house
bona
fide
let
at
a
rent which includes payment
in
respect of
.
.
.
attend-
ance
or
the use of furniture, provided that the value which
is
fairly attributable to the attendance
or
the use of furniture,
regard being had to the value of the same to the tenant,
forms a substantial portion of the whole rent
’.
Where this
exclusion applies the tenant has none of the rights afforded
by the Acts and his sole protection is that provided by the
Furnished Houses (Rent Control) Act,
1946,
assuming that
this Act has been extended to the district concerned.
In these two cases the Court of Appeal had and accepted
the opportunity of construing the statutory provision and
in particular of deciding the meaning of
‘
attendance
’,
‘
furniture
’
and
‘
substantial portion
’.
Briefly, the effect
of their decisions is
as
follows
:-
1.
Where the renb
or
rateable value
of
the dwelling-
house is such
as
to bring
it
prima
facie
within the opera-
tion of the Acts the burden of proof is on the landlord
to show as a question of fact, (a) that
it
is
bona fide
let
at
a
rent which includes payment for attendance
or
furniture, and (b) that such payment constitutes a sub-
stantial portion of the whole rent.
2.
The only attendance and furniture to be taken
into consideration for this purpose is that to which the
tenant has
a
contractual right.
3.
If
the value to the tenant of the attendance
or
furniture is not less than
20
per cent. of the total rent
it
will be deemed to constitute a substantial portion,
if
less than
15
per cent. it will not, and if between
15
per
cent. and
20
per cent. it will be a borderline case to be
decided on the particular facts.
63
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