Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1923

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citation1923 c. 10


Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1923

(13 & 14 Geo. 5.) CHAPTER 10.

An Act to consolidate the Enactment relating to Agricultural Holdings in Scotland.

[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.

Compensation for Improvements on Holdings.

S-1 Right of tenant to compensation for improvements.

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 lease was entered into 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 lease 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 lease 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 he entitled under custom, agreement, or otherwise, in lieu of any compensation provided by this section.

S-2 Consent of landlord as to improvement in First Schedule, Part I.

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 hereto, 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 may be 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.

S-3 Notice to landlord as to improvement in First Schedule, Part II.

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 hereto, 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) Or instead of making any such agreement the landlord may undertake to execute the improvement himself and, unless the notice of the tenant is previously withdrawn, proceed to do so in any reasonable and proper manner which he thinks fit, and recover from the tenant as rent a sum not exceeding five per centum 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 centum per annum:

Provided that—

(a ) the Board may by regulation substitute such percentages or period as they think fit for the percentages and period mentioned in this subsection, having due regard to the current rates of interest; and

(b ) in default of any such agreement or undertaking or in the event of the landlord failing 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.

(4) The landlord and the tenant may by the lease 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.

S-4 Agreements as to improvement in First Schedule, Part III.

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 hereto, 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.

S-5 Further provisions as to improvements.[1920, s. 15\(3)-\(7). 1920, s. 27. S.R.O. 1922.]

5 Further provisions as to improvements.[1920, s. 15\(3)-\(7). 1920, s. 27. S.R.O. 1922.]

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, where a tenant desires to make on his holding or any part of his holding any improvement comprised in the Third Schedule to this Act and the landlord refuses, or within a reasonable time fails, to agree in writing that the holding or that part of the holding shall be treated as a market garden, the Board may, on the application of the tenant and after hearing the landlord or his representative, and after being satisfied that the holding or part of the holding is suitable for the purposes of market gardening, direct that section forty-two of this Act shall, either in respect of all the improvements comprised in the said Third Schedule or in respect of some only of those improvements, apply to the holding or to that part thereof, and the said section shall apply accordingly as respects any improvements executed after the date on which the direction is given:

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall authorise the breaking up of meadow land or pasture.

Any direction given by the Board under this subsection shall be subject to such conditions, if any, for the protection of the landlord, as the Board may think fit to attach to the direction, and, where any such direction is given, the following provisions shall have effect:—

(a ) If the tenancy is terminated by notice to quit given by the tenant or by reason of the tenant becoming notour bankrupt or executing a trust deed for behoof of his creditors, the tenant shall not be entitled to compensation in respect of any such improvements as are specified in the direction unless the tenant not later than one month after the date on which the notice to quit is given or the date of the bankruptcy or execution of the trust deed, as the case may be, or such later date as may be agreed, produces to the landlord an offer in writing by a substantial and otherwise suitable person (being an offer which is to hold good for a period of three months from the date on which it is produced), to accept a tenancy of the holding from the termination of the existing tenancy thereof, and on the terms and conditions of that tenancy so far as applicable, and, subject as hereinafter provided, to pay to the outgoing tenant all compensation payable under this Act, or under the lease, and the landlord fails to accept the offer within three months after the production thereof; and

(b ) If the landlord accepts any such offer, the incoming tenant shall pay to the landlord on demand all sums payable to him by the outgoing tenant on the termination of the tenancy in respect of rent or breach of contract or otherwise in respect of the holding, and any amount so paid may, subject to any agreement between the outgoing tenant and incoming tenant, be deducted by the incoming tenant from any compensation payable by him to the outgoing tenant; and

(c ) If the direction relates to part only of the holding, the direction may, on the application of the landlord, be given subject to the condition that the tenant shall consent to the division of the holding into two parts (one such part being the part to which the direction relates) to be held at rents agreed by the landlord and tenant or in default of agreement settled by the Board, but otherwise on the same terms and conditions as the original holding, so far as applicable.

(2) A new tenancy created by the acceptance of a tenant in accordance with the provisions of this section on the terms and conditions of the existing tenancy shall not be deemed to be a new tenancy for the purposes of the provisions of this Act relating to demands for arbitration as to rent.

(3) In the exercise of their powers under this section, the Board shall have regard to the likelihood of the land being required for any purpose other than agriculture.

(4) If in any case a landlord or tenant by notice in writing given to the other party shall so require, the powers which under this section may be exercised by the Board shall in that case be exercised by an arbiter appointed and acting under and in...

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