The Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest (War Restrictions) Act 1915 (known as the Rent Restrictions Act) is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

which restricted increases in rent and the rate of mortgage interest during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The Act was in place on 25 November 1915 with its restrictions retrospectively in place from 4 August 1914. The Act was, in part, a result of a

rent strike A rent strike is a method of protest commonly employed against large landlords. In a rent strike, a group of tenants come together and agree to refuse to pay their rent ''en masse'' until a specific list of demands is met by the landlord. This can ...

which had taken place in Glasgow between 1914–15 as landlords sought to capitalise on the large influx of people into Glasgow that the promise of war and munitions work had brought into Glasgow. At its peak the rent strike involved as many as 20,000 people with its influence extending to other working-class communities in the UK. The crisis of the rent strike was brought to a head when Mr Nicholson, a

factor Factor, a Latin word meaning "who/which acts", may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, suc ...

in the

Partick Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and to t ...

area of the city, sought the prosecution of eighteen strikers in the small debt court. On 17 November 1915, thousands of shipyard workers came out on strike and alongside what had become known as " Mrs Barbour's Army" descended on the court in Brunswick Place, Glasgow. Despite the possibility of further industrial unrest disrupting the supply of war munitions, the factor insisted on pursuing the case. Only when it was revealed that

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...

had telephoned Nicholson's solicitor urging the prosecution to wait on the findings of a parliamentary Commission of Inquiry was the prosecution dropped. Within a month of the court case the Rent Restrictions Act was in place, and was designed to stop landlords from profiteering during the war years when housing demand was high and supply was low. The act was divided into five sections: # Restrictions on raising rent or rate of mortgage interest # Interpretation and application # Rules as to procedure # Application to Scotland and Ireland # Short title and duration The Act was initially intended as a temporary measure lasting during the continuance of the war and for a period of until six months after the end of the war. although certain sections were not actually repealed until 1989 when rents were deregulated during the third term of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

's Conservative government.

References

{{reflist 1915 in Scotland Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning Scotland United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1915 1915 in British law History of Glasgow Land law