HC Deb 10 July 1964 vol 698 cc796-7

Lords Amendment: In page 40, line 16, after the words last inserted insert new Clause C (Amendments of Agricultural Holdings Act 1948): C—(1) Section 9 of the Agricultural Holdings Act 1948 (increases of rent for improvements carried out by landlord) shall apply as if references in subsection (1) of that section to improvements carried out at the request of the tenant included references to improvements carried out in compliance with an immediate improvement notice or final improvement notice or an undertaking accepted under this Part of this Act: Provided that where the tenant has contributed to the cost incurred by the landlord in carrying out the improvement, the increase in rent provided for by the said section 9 shall be reduced proportionately. (2) Any works carried out in compliance with an immediate improvement notice or final improvement notice or an undertaking accepted under this Part of this Act shall be included among the improvements specified in paragraph 8 of Schedule 3 to the Agricultural Holdings Act 1948 (tenant's right to compensation for erection, alteration or enlargement of buildings), but subject to the power conferred by section 78 of that Act to amend the said Schedule 3; and section 49 of that Act (which makes that right to compensation conditional on the landlord consenting to the carrying out of the improvements) shall not apply to any works carried out in compliance with such a notice or undertaking. (3) Where a person other than the tenant claiming compensation has contributed to the cost of carrying out the works in compliance with any such notice or undertaking, compensation in respect of the works, as assessed under section 48 of the said Act of 1948, shall be reduced proportionately.

Mr. Corfield

I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.

This is the new Clause to which the hon. Gentleman the Member for Fulham (Mr. M. Stewart) referred just now. It arises from the inclusion of the agricultural service tenant in the provisions of the Bill. The Agricultural Holdings Act, 1948, ensures provision for compensation where the tenant, that is to say, the farmer, has been improving the farm cottage in which he in turn had a service tenancy, and this ensures that such improvements can be taken into account, either in a claim by a tenant for increased terminal grant at the end of the tenancy, or in adjustment in the rent despite the fact that the improvement was undertaken compulsorily and without the consent of the parties, which constitutes the present condition in the 1948 Act.

Question put and agreed to.