time, tenants were entitled to information about the cost of services provided by landlords when the cost exceeded £80. Local authorities, other public sector landlords (including housing associations) and management companies run by their tenants were excepted. A failure to provide information became a criminal offence. The Rent Assessment Committee (England and Wales) Regulations 1971 was the first of many Statutory Instruments that regulated procedures to follow when dealing with appeals against Rent Officer decisions. Rents frozen 1972 Orders made under the Counter Inflation (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972 froze rents at their level on 6 November 1972 (as well as prices and wages) as part of the government's counter inflation measures. The freeze lasted initially for 90 days and was extended to 150 days by a later Order. Conversions from controlled to regulated tenancies (and in general, increases in rents of housing association tenancies) were postponed until the end of the standstill period. The freeze applied to all private residential tenancies including those with rateable values above the Rent Act limits. The Counter-Inflation Act 1973 imposed a further freeze from March 1974 (until March 1975 in England and Wales) (until May 1975 in Scotland). The Furnished Lettings (Rent Allowances) Act 1973 extended the rent allowance scheme to furnished lettings (those contracts within Part VI of the Rent Act 1968) and for certain housing authority furnished lettings, except where the landlord was the Crown or where substantial board was provided. Rateable value limits 1973 Owing to the increased pressure of demand for housing resulting in increased house prices by a continuing trend during 1971 and 1972, a Conservative government used the Counter-Inflation Act 1973 to extend the scope of Rent Act protection of higher-rated accommodation on 23 March 1973. The rateable value limits were raised from £400 to £600 in London and from £200 to £400 elsewhere for those properties appearing in the 1963 valuation list. Those limits were raised to £1,500 in London and to £750 elsewhere from 1 April 1973 to take account of the revised valuation list that took effect on that date. It was estimated that this brought a further 16,000 tenancies into protection. Luxury blocks of flats with extensive porterage and services were swept into control and even in Central London only a few very large individual houses in Regent's Park were found to be outside the scope of Rent Act protection. The rateable value limits