'File 6/82 Rent Control' [‎106r] (211/570)

D.O. No. C/956.
The 2nd of October, 1945.
My dear Smith,
As promised in my conversation this morning
with His Highness, yourself, and Shaikh Abdullah, I am
writing to you about the formation of a Committee to go
into the question of the rents charged for houses and
living accommodation in Bahrain and the law relating
thereto.
2* I gathered from His Highness that the chief
question which concerned him was that in the case of
landlords who had leased out their house property for
fairly lengthy periods - five years was the period quoted
the present Bahrain Law allowed them an increase of only
10 per cent in the rent at the termination of the lease;
while those who had let their property on yearly or
monthly leases were enabled to get the advantage of the
10 per cent increase at the end of each year. His
Highness has made the point several times that he did
not want on the one hand complete freedom given to the
house owners, but on the other hand, he thought they
should in some cases, at any rate, be entitled to raise
their rents to a greater extent than is allowed under
the existing law.
3. I suggest that the terns of reference of the
Committee be something like - "To examine the rents
charged for house property in Bahrain and the law relating
thereto and to suggest any modifications that may be
required in the latter".
4. I suggested that cbe Committee should have
four members viz. a representative from the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , from
the Bahrain Government, of the house-owners, and of the
tenants. I shall appoint Bird to act for the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. and
shall be glad to hear from you the name of the Bahrain
Government representative. ?ith regard to the other two
members, since most of the landlords are Bahrain subjects,
and very large number of the tenants likely to be affected
are British subjects, the most practical arrangement would
seem to be that the Bahrain Government should appoint the
former and the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. the latter. I can see no objection
to this except the rather academic one that the two Govern
mental agencies would seem to be identifying themselves
with the parties directly interested in the question at
issue. But if you have no objection, I think this arrange
ment will do. Kindly Idt me know.
I
►
Yours sincerely,
G.W.R. Smith, Esq.,
Acting Adviser to the
Bahrain Government,
Bahrain.
/
/