6 JAMES AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUGDMENT 15. From about 1880 onwards, demands began to be made for "leasehold enfranchisement", that is the right for tenants to purchase compulsorily the freehold of their holdings. Between 1884 and 1929, a number of unsuccessful Bills to grant some measure of leasehold enfranchisement were introduced into Parliament. 16. Demand for reform of the law revived soon after the Second World War and in 1948 a Committee (the Leasehold Committee) was appointed by the Lord Chancellor to consider various aspects of the leasehold question. In their report, presented to Parliament in 1950 (Command Paper Cmd 7982), the majority of the Committee came out against giving tenants a right of enfranchisement. They concluded that there were both general objections of principle and practical obstacles to such a course of action. They further believed that "leasehold enfranchisement ... would not be in the public interest" (paragraph 100). They did, however, recommend that occupying tenants of houses under a certain rateable value should have security of tenure under the Rent Acts. The minority report of the Committee drew attention to the strong and bitter sense of injustice felt by long leaseholders in the case of building leases and recommended that certain occupying tenants should have a right of leasehold enfranchisement by compulsory purchase. The Labour Government of the day did not have time to put forward any permanent legislation following the Leasehold Committee’s report. The Conservative Government elected in 1951 accepted the majority view of the Committee, and its recommendations were enacted in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ("the 1954 Act"). In broad terms, the effect of this Act was - and still is - that on the expiry of a long residential lease the tenant should have the right to continue occupying the house as a sitting tenant under the Rent Acts, paying a "fair rent" as defined in those Acts and enjoying the security of tenure afforded by the ordinary rent legislation. This privilege is transferable on death to other members of the tenant’s family residing in the property. 17. Public discussion of the matter continued. In 1961, claims were made in Parliament that leaseholders were being subjected to hardship as a result of the onerous terms which landlords were asking for the sale of reversions or for the extension or renewal of existing leases. Enquiries were made by the Government who invited the bodies representing professions most experienced in the field (solicitors, surveyors, auctioneers, estate and property agents) to report on the practice of ground landlords in this respect. In July 1962, a White Paper was published presenting a summary of their assessments (Residential Leasehold Property - Command Paper Cmnd 1789). In general, the professional bodies appeared to find that the existing system worked adequately, although there was widespread dissatisfaction among tenants as to the limited nature of the interest they held.