124.
asked the Minister of Health whether he will introduce legislation to enable a court of summary jurisdiction on the granting to a wife of a separation order to substitute such wife in place of the husband as the statutory tenant of premises controlled by the Rent Restriction Acts or as the tenant of a council-owned house.
No. Questions of possession of houses controlled under the Rent Restrictions Acts are within the jurisdiction of the county court and my right hon. Friend sees no reason for making any change. As regards the particular circumstances the hon. Member has in mind I would refer him to the decision of the Court of Appeal on 2nd March, 1950, in the case of Middleton v. Baldock (Law Reports, 1950, 1 K.B., p. 657). The Housing Acts give local authorities full discretion in the allocation of their tenancies.