Agricultural Holdings Act 1923
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1923 c. 9 |
| Year | 1923 |
Agricultural Holdings Act, 1923.
(13 & 14 Geo. 5.) CHAPTER 9.
An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to Agricultural Holdings in England and Wales.
[7th June 1923]
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Compensation for Improvements on Holdings.
1 Right of tenant to compensation for improvements.
(1) Where a tenant of a holding has made thereon any improvement comprised in the First Schedule to this Act he shall, subject as in this Act mentioned, and, in a case where the contract of tenancy was made on or after the first day of January, nineteen hundred and twenty-one, then whether the improvement was or was not an improvement which he was required to make by the terms of his tenancy, be entitled, at the termination of the tenancy, on quitting his holding to obtain from the landlord as compensation for the improvement such sum as fairly represents the value of the improvement to an incoming tenant.
(2) In the ascertainment of the amount of the compensation payable to a tenant under this section there shall be taken into account—
(a ) any benefit which the landlord has given or allowed to the tenant in consideration of the tenant executing the improvement, whether expressly stated in the contract of tenancy to be so given or allowed or not; and
(b ) as respects manuring as defined by this Act, the value of the manure required by the contract of tenancy or by custom to be returned to the holding in respect of any crops grown on and sold off or removed from the holding within the last two years of the tenancy or other less time for which the tenancy has endured, not exceeding the value of the manure which would have been produced by the consumption on the holding of the crops so sold off or removed.
(3) Nothing in this section shall prejudice the right of a tenant to claim any compensation to which he may be entitled under custom, agreement, or otherwise, in lieu of any compensation provided by this section.
2 Consent of landlord as to improvement in First Schedule, Part I.
2. Compensation under this Act shall not be payable in respect of any improvement comprised in Part I. of the First Schedule to this Act, unless the landlord of the holding has, previously to the execution of the improvement, consented in writing to the making of the improvement, and any such consent maybe given by the landlord unconditionally, or upon such terms as to compensation or otherwise, as may be agreed upon between the landlord and the tenant, and, if any such agreement is made, any compensation payable under the agreement shall be substituted for compensation under this Act.
3 Notice to landlord as to improvement in First Schedule, Part II.
(1) Compensation under this Act shall not be payable in respect of any improvement comprised in Part II. of the First Schedule to this Act, unless the tenant of the holding has, not more than three nor less than two months before beginning to execute the improvement, given to the landlord notice in writing of his intention so to do, and of the manner in which he proposes to do the intended work, and, upon such notice being given, the landlord and the tenant may agree on the terms as to compensation or otherwise on which the improvement is to be executed.
(2) If any such agreement is made, any compensation payable under the agreement shall be substituted for compensation under this Act.
(3) In default of any such agreement, the landlord may, unless the notice of the tenant is previously withdrawn, execute the improvement in any reasonable and proper manner which he thinks fit, and recover from the tenant as rent a sum not exceeding five per cent. per annum on the outlay incurred, or not exceeding such annual sum payable for a period of twenty-five years as will repay that outlay in that period, with interest at the rate of three per cent. per annum:
Provided that, if the landlord fails to execute the improvement within a reasonable time, the tenant may execute the improvement, and shall, in respect thereof, be entitled to compensation under this Act.
The Minister may by regulation substitute such percentages or period as he thinks fit for the percentages and period mentioned in this subsection, having due regard to the current rates of interest.
(4) The landlord and the tenant may, by the contract of tenancy or otherwise, agree to dispense with any notice under this section, and any such agreement may provide for anything for which an agreement after notice under this section may provide, and in such case shall be of the same validity and effect as such last-mentioned agreement.
4 Agreements as to improvement in First Schedule, Part III.
4. Where any agreement in writing entered into before the first day of January, nineteen hundred and twenty-one, secures to the tenant of a holding for any improvement comprised in Part III. of the First Schedule to this Act fair and reasonable compensation, having regard to the circumstances existing at the time of making the agreement, the compensation so secured shall, as respects that improvement, be substituted for compensation under this Act.
5 Determination of claims to compensation for improvements.
5. If the tenant of a holding claims to be entitled to compensation, whether under this Act, or under custom or agreement, or otherwise, in respect of any improvement comprised in the First Schedule to this Act, and if the landlord and tenant fail to agree as to the amount and time and mode of payment of the compensation, the difference shall be settled by arbitration.
6 Right of tenant who has paid compensation to outgoing tenant.
6. Where an incoming tenant of a holding has, with the consent in writing of his landlord, paid to an outgoing tenant any compensation payable under or in pursuance of this Act in respect of the whole or part of any improvement, the incoming tenant shall be entitled on quitting the holding to claim compensation in respect of the improvement or part in like manner, if at all, as the outgoing tenant would have been entitled if he had remained tenant of the holding, and quitted it at the time at which the incoming tenant quits it.
7 Provision as to change of tenancy.
7. A tenant who has remained in his holding during two or more tenancies shall not, on quitting his holding, be deprived of his right to claim compensation under this Act in respect of improvements by reason only that the improvements were not made during the tenancy on the termination of which he quits the holding.
8 Restriction in respect of improvements by tenant about to quit.
8. A tenant of a holding shall not be entitled to compensation under this Act in respect of any improvements, other than manuring as defined by this Act, begun by him,—
Provided that this section shall not apply in the case of any improvement—
(i) where the tenant, previously to beginning the improvement, has served notice on his landlord of his intention to begin it, and the landlord has either assented or has failed for a month after the receipt of the notice to object to the making of the improvement; or
(ii) in the case of a tenant from year to year, where the tenant has begun the improvement during the last year of his tenancy, and, in pursuance of a notice to quit thereafter given by the landlord, quits his holding at the expiration of that year.
Compensation in respect of increased or diminished value of holding.
9 Compensation for continuous adoption of special standard or system of farming.
(1) Where a tenant on quitting a holding proves to the satisfaction of an arbitrator appointed under this Act that the value of the holding to an incoming tenant has been increased during the tenancy by the continuous adoption of a standard of farming or a system of farming which has been more beneficial to the holding than the standard or system (if any) required by the contract of tenancy, the arbitrator shall award to the tenant such compensation as in his opinion represents the value to an incoming tenant of the adoption of that standard or system:
Provided that—
(a ) this section shall not apply in any case unless a record of the condition of the holding has been made under this Act or any enactment repealed by this Act, or in respect of any matter arising before the date of the record so made; and
(b ) compensation shall not be payable under this section unless the tenant has, before the termination of the tenancy, given notice in writing to the landlord of his intention to claim such compensation; and
(c ) the arbitrator in assessing the value to an incoming tenant shall make due allowance for any compensation agreed or awarded to be paid to the tenant for any improvement specified in the First Schedule to this Act which has caused or contributed to the benefit.
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