that the Rent Officer's decision could be expected to coincide with the expiry of the previous registration. It unfroze the contractual rent limit, which had previously been fixed until the registration of a fair rent (some of which could have been set in 1965). Provision was made for landlords and tenants of regulated tenancies for which no fair rent had been registered, to agree (using a special written agreement) rent increases without reference to the Rent Officer and without losing their rights to make some future application for a fair rent to be determined. But if the rent agreement was the first to take effect after the controlled tenancy had been converted into a regulated tenancy by the 1972 Act, the agreement had to be lodged with the Rent Officer who would only allow the agreement to have effect if the agreed rent did not exceed a fair rent. Changes were made to statutory succession. Until this Act, a new tenancy granted to a first or second statutory success or had created new succession rights. From 27 August 1972, a new tenancy granted by succession to a person who was a statutory tenant by succession did not create any new succession rights. Another of the recommendations of the Francis Committee, to increase the maximum penalties for harassment and unlawful eviction, was included in the Criminal Justice Act 1972. The Housing Finance Act of 1972 also brought fundamental changes to rent legislation. It became the duty of every local authority and new town corporation to determine a fair rent (on the same basis and definition as a fair rent for regulated tenancies) for every one of their housing revenue account dwellings. This was to be done by making provisional assessments of fair rents for their properties. These assessments had to be submitted to a rent scrutiny board that could confirm them or substitute different rents. These provisions were repealed in 1976. Dwellings owned by housing associations and housing trusts (usually charities), which were registered with the Housing Corporation (but not those that were registered societies under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965) were brought within the fair rent system. From 1 January 1973, their rents were to be determined by Rent Officers and registered in a separate part of the Rent Register. New subsidies were introduced for housing associations and housing trusts registered with the Housing Corporation. For the first