Small Landholders and Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1931
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1931 c. 44 |
| Year | 1931 |
Small Landholders and Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1931
(21 & 22 Geo. 5.) CHAPTER 44.
An Act to amend the Small Landholders (Scotland) Acts, 1886 to 1919, and the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1923.
[31st July 1931]
B E 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:—
Part I.
(Scotland) Acts.Amendment of the Small Landholders
1 Compensation to an outgoing holder.
(1) In any case where a landholder renounces or is removed from his holding and the landlord is liable to pay compensation for permanent improvements, either to the landholder or to the Department of Agriculture for Scotland (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘Department’) in virtue of a transfer to them under section eight of the Act of 1911 of the landholder's rights to compensation, and another person (hereinafter referred to as the ‘incoming holder’) becomes the holder of the holding, and, with the consent of the landlord, pays to the outgoing holder any compensation due to him and agrees with the Department to assume any outstanding liability to them of the outgoing holder in respect of a loan granted to him, the incoming holder shall be deemed to have executed or paid for the improvements, and on renouncing or being removed from the holding shall be entitled to compensation accordingly. Where in any such case the landlord has not paid the compensation due either to the outgoing holder, or to the Department, or has not made application to the Department to determine under the said section that any compensation due to them in virtue of the said section eight shall be deemed to be a loan to him, he shall be deemed to have given the consent aforesaid.
(2) In any such case as aforesaid the powers of the Department conferred by section seven of the Act of 1911 with regard to the provision of assistance with a view to the registration of a new holder shall include power to provide assistance to the incoming holder to enable him to pay to the outgoing holder the compensation due to him, and where the outgoing holder is under any liability to the Department in respect of a loan granted to him, the Department and the incoming holder may agree that he shall assume such liability, and the amount thereof shall then be deemed to be a loan granted to the incoming holder in pursuance of the aforesaid powers conferred by section seven of the Act of 1911.
(3) Where a new holder or the Department on his behalf has made payment to the landlord of a sum representing the value to such holder of the existing buildings, such holder shall be deemed to have executed or paid for such buildings and shall be entitled to compensation accordingly, and any loan granted by the Department to such holder to enable him to make such payment, or any such payment made by the Department shall be deemed to be a loan granted to the landholder under section seven of the Act of 1911.
(4) The provisions of this section shall be deemed to have come into operation at the commencement of the Act of 1911, and any reference in this section to the Department shall include a reference to the Board of Agriculture for Scotland.
2 Department to be entitled to require information.
(1) The Department, with a view to ascertaining whether any land is suitable or available for small holdings shall be entitled, by notice in writing served on the landlord of such land, to require the landlord to give such information as to the occupiers thereof, and the terms of their tenancies, as may be specified in the notice, or to allow copies to be made of any leases of such land, and if any landlord fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any such requirement within one month after the service of the notice he shall be guilty of an offence land liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
(2) A landlord shall be entitled to recover from the Department any expenses reasonably incurred by him in complying with a requisition under the foregoing subsection.
3 Removal of landholder for breach of statutory conditions.
(1) When one year's rent of a holding is unpaid or when a landholder has broken any statutory condition (other than a statutory condition as to payment of rent), it shall be lawful for the Land Court, on the application of the landlord and after consideration of any objections stated by the landholder, to make an order for the removal of the landholder, and where a landholder whose rights to compensation for permanent improvements have been transferred in whole or in part to the Department, under section eight of the Act of 1911, abandons his holding or breaks any statutory condition (other than as aforesaid) or breaks any of the conditions of repayment of a loan under the said section, it shall be lawful for the Land Court, on the application of the Department, and after considering any objections stated by the landholder or the landlord, to make an order for the removal of the landholder.
(2) Section three of the Act of 1886 and subsection (2) of section eight of the Act of 1911 are hereby repealed.
4 Termination of right of landholder who fails to occupy.
4. Where any person to whom a new holding has been allocated or let by the Department fails without reasonable cause within three months of his term of entry to such holding to occupy, cultivate and proceed to equip it, the Department after consideration of any objections stated by such person shall be entitled to terminate his right to such holding and to allocate or let it to some other person, and where a person has been registered by order of the Land Court as a landholder in respect of any holding and he fails without reasonable cause within three months of such registration to occupy, cultivate and proceed to equip the holding, it shall be lawful for the Land Court on the application of the Department or of the landlord, and after giving the Department, the landlord, and the landholder an opportunity of being heard, to cancel the registration of such landholder and to terminate his right to the holding, and the Department shall thereupon be entitled to allocate or let the holding to some other person.
5 Provisions as to loans for buildings.
(1) For removing doubts as to the powers of the Department to grant loans under section nine of the Act of 1911, it is hereby declared that the Department may, where they are of opinion that assistance should be provided for the erection of new buildings, either in replacement of existing buildings or otherwise, provide such assistance by way of loan subject to the like conditions and incidents as loans made under section seven of the said Act, and, if made to a landholder, subject also to the provisions of section eight of the said Act.
(2) The power conferred on the Department by section nine of the Act of 1911 to provide assistance to landholders or cottars for the purposes therein specified shall be deemed to include and always to have included power to supply for payment in cash building or other materials to landholders or cottars to be used by them for the purposes aforesaid.
6 Amendment of law as to vacant holdings.
6. Section seventeen of the Act of 1911 shall be amended by leaving out the words from ‘if the Land Court’ to ‘may prescribe’; and by inserting after the words ‘or to a new holder’ the following words ‘and the Board shall have in regard to any such holding the like powers as if the holding had been included in a scheme made and confirmed under section seven of the Act of 1911, as amended by section nine of the Act of 1919, at such rent as the Board may fix, provided that the Board shall pay to the landlord, in lieu of the compensation provided by the said section as so amended, compensation to such amount as, failing agreement, may be determined by the Land Court in respect of any damage or injury arising out of any alteration as regards the rent payable for or the terms and conditions of occupancy of the holding.’
To continue reading
Request your trial