JAMES AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUGDMENT 9 reasonable to make an enfranchisement order in favour of the tenant. The reason given for rejecting this criticism was the concern that, in view of the very large number of houses held on long leases, a system whereby the reasonableness of the enfranchisement would have to be established in each individual case would inevitably give rise to considerable uncertainty, to delay, to litigation in many cases and, no doubt in some tenants, to the feeling that it might be too expensive to venture on the uncertain exercise. Another point raised in the debates arose from the fact that, under the Bill, the right of enfranchisement would be restricted to the tenants of houses under a certain value. It was argued that if the leasehold system worked unjustly for the reasons suggested by the Government, then logically it must work unjustly in respect of all tenants, regardless of the value of the house. The reasons put forward by the Government spokesmen for confining the applicability of the legislation to houses below a certain value were essentially as follows: (a) it was appropriate for legislation improving the position of leaseholders to apply to the same class of property as the Rent Acts; (b) the Government had tried to define the cases of greatest hardship which justified them in rectifying existing contracts; the precedent had therefore been followed of the limits set by the Rent Acts; whilst it might be argued on grounds of logic and consistency that no limit should be set, that would involve rectification to an unnecessary degree; (c) to a degree the Government were influenced by the large capital gains which could be made by some tenants if the limits were removed entirely. After extensive debate in both Houses of Parliament, the Bill introduced by the Government was duly enacted as the Leasehold Reform Act 1967. There were about one and a quarter million dwellinghouses occupied by long leaseholders in England and Wales in 1967. It was estimated at the time by the Government that all but one or two per cent fell within the scope of the enfranchisement scheme introduced by the Act. Subsequently, as a result of an amendment introduced in 1974, a band of more valuable houses within this remaining one or two per cent was also made susceptible of enfranchisement (see paragraph 21 (b) below). C. The leasehold reform legislation 20. The legislation governing leasehold enfranchisement now consists of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 ("the 1967 Act"), as amended by the Housing Act 1969 ("the 1969 Act"), the Housing Act 1974 ("the 1974 Act"), the Leasehold Reform Act 1979, the Housing Act 1980 ("the 1980 Act") and the Housing and Building Control Act 1984. This legislation provides occupying tenants of "houses" let on long leases in England and Wales with the right to acquire the freehold of the house, or an extended lease, on certain terms and conditions. The term "house", as defined,