The bitter cry of the small householder, who is asked
by his landlord to buy his house at a war price or leave it, was raised in the House of Commons on Monday. In the present scarcity of houses, some landlords seem to be acting in an arbitrary fashion. On the other hand, landlords as a body have suffered much during the war, as they have had to pay the higher rates and taxes and increased charges for repairs without being able to raise their rents. It would be wrong to impose permanent restrictions on all owners of house-property because some of them have sought to profit by a temporary difficulty. For if a landlord were prevented from selling a house or giving notice to the tenant, the tendency to invest money in house-property would suffer a severe check. Yet Dr. Addison told the House that he wanted to encourage private builders as well as municipal Housing Committees.
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