New Clause " A "

HC Deb 27 May 1970 vol 801 cc1933-6

FURTHER PROVISIONS AS TO RECOVERY OF POSSESSION OF REDUNDANT FARMHOUSES IN ENGLAND AND WALES

Lords Amendment: No. 13, in page 88, line 18, at end insert new Clause " A "— A. Part II of Schedule 3 to the Rent Act 1968 (cases in which a court in England or Wales must order possession of a dwelling-house subject to a regulated tenancy) shall be amended by adding at the end—

CASE 14

Where—

1. (a) the last occupier of the dwelling-house before the relevant date was a person, or the widow of a person, who was at some time during his occupation responsible (whether as owner, tenant, or servant or agent of another) for the control of the farming of land which formed, together with the dwelling-house, an agricultural unit within the meaning of the Agriculture Act 1947, and
2. (b) the tenant is neither—
1. (i)a person, or the widow of a person, who is or has at any time been responsible for the control of the farming of any part of the said land, nor
2. (ii)a person, or the widow of a person, who is or at any time was employed by the landlord in agriculture, and
3. (c) the creation of the tenancy was not preceded by the carrying out in connection with any of the said land of an amalgamation approved for the purposes of a scheme under section 26 of the Agriculture Act 1967, and
4. (d) not later than the relevant date, the the tenant was given notice in writing that possession might be recovered under this Case, and
5. (e) the court is satisfied that the dwelling-house is required for occupation either by a person responsible or to be responsible (whether as owner, tenant, or servant or agent of another) for the control of the farming of any part of the said land or by a person employed or to be employed by the landlord in agriculture, and
6. (f) the proceedings for possession are commenced by the landlord before the expiry of five years from the date on which the occupier referred to in paragraph (a) above went out of occupation;

and for the purposes of this Case ' employed ' and ' agriculture ' have the same meanings as in the Agricultural Wages Act 1948 and ' amalgamation ' has the same meaning as in Part II of the Agriculture Act 1967."

Mr. Speaker

I suggest that we take with this Amendment Lords Amendment No. 14, new Clause " B "—" Further pro- visions as to recovery of possession of redundant farm—houses in Scotland "—in page 88, line 18, after the words last inserted, insert new Clause " B "— B.—(1) This section shall have effect where a dwelling-house in Scotland is let on a regulated tenancy and the last occupier of the dwelling-house before the commencement of the regulated tenancy was a person, or the widow of a person, who was at some time during his occupation responsible (whether as owner, tenant, or servant or agent of another) for the control of the farming of land which formed, together with the dwelling-house, an agricultural unit within the meaning of the Agriculture (Scotland) Act 1948.

(2) If—

1. (a) the conditions mentioned in subsection
2. (3) of this section are satisfied, and
3. (b) apart from the Rent Acts the landlord would be entitled to recover possession of the dwelling-house, and
4. (c) the sheriff is satisfied that the dwelling-house is required for occupation either by a person responsible or to be responsible (whether as owner, tenant, or servant or agent of another) for the control of the farming of any part of the said land or by a person employed or to be employed by the landlord in agriculture,

the sheriff shall make an order for the possession of the dwelling-house whether or not he would have power to do so under section 3 of the Act of 1933, and section 5(2) of the Act of 1920 shall not apply in relation to the order.

(3) The said conditions are—

1. (a) that the tenant of the dwelling—house is neither—
1. (i) a person, or the widow of a person, who is or has at any time been responsible for the control of the farming of any part of the said land, nor
2. (ii) a person, or the widow of a person, who is or at any time was employed by the landlord in agriculture; and
1. (b) that the creation of the tenancy was not preceded by the carrying out in connection with any of the said land of an amalgamation approved for the purposes of a scheme under section 26 of the Agriculture Act 1967; and
2. (c) that not later than the date of commencement of the regulated tenancy, the tenant was given notice in writing that possession might be recovered under this section; and
3. (d) that the proceedings for possession are commenced by the landlord before the expiry of five years from the date on which the occupier referred to in subsection (1) of this section ceased to occupy the dwelling-house.

(4) In this section— the Rent Acts " means the Rent and Mortgage Interest Restrictions Acts 1920 to 1939, or any of those Acts; the Act of 1920 " and " the Act of 1933 " mean respectively the Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest (Restrictions) Act 1920 and the Rent and Mortgage Interest Restrictions (Amendment) Act 1933; employed " and " agriculture " have the same meanings as in the Agricultural Wages (Scotland) Act 1949; landlord ", " tenant " and " tenancy " have the same measnings as in the Act of 1920; regulated tenancy " has the same meaning as in section 1(4) of the Rent Act 1965; and order for possession " means decree of removing or warrant of ejection or other like order.

Mr. Mackie

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

The problem of surplus farmhouses was discussed in earlier stages of the Bill. It was pointed out that we had provided in the Agriculture Act, 1967, for the recovery of possession of farmhouses rendered surplus by amalgamation, and it was suggested that similar provision might be made for other surplus farmhouses. However, the suggestions made for giving effect to this proposal were so sweeping that we felt that they would create greater problems than they would solve.

The case was again pressed strongly in another place, and it became apparent that the difficulties were technical rather than substantial. Accordingly, informal discussions were held, and these Clauses are the result. Despite their apparent complexity and length, the purpose is straightforward and will, I believe, be acceptable to the House.

Briefly, the new Clauses provide for the recovery of possession of surplus farmhouses other than those rendered surplus by approved amalgamations, for which provision already exists. There will be occasions when it is sensible for the owner of a spare formhouse to let it on a temporary basis rather than leave it empty. The intention is to give the owners of such farmhouses rights similar to those already given to owners in amalgamation cases.

Allowing for the slight difference in circumstances, the conditions and safeguards are similar. There is protection for the farmer who is already in the house, or his widow, and for his employees, ex-employees and their widows, and there is a time limit on the exercise of the right.

9.30 p.m.

Mr. Stodart

This is the end of a somewhat lengthy saga. I believe that it started in another place on an Amendment to the Rent Bill in 1965. That is the first point at which I stumbled upon it. It was debated again on the Agriculture Bill in 1967 on a new Clause in Committee. The subject is one in which my hon. Friends the Members for Windsor (Sir C. Mott-Radclyffe) and Norfolk, South (Mr. J. E. B. Hill) have taken a particular interest. The present Amendments represent the fruits of the third discussion of the subject in another place on the present Bill.

As the Parliamentary Secretary said, we are concerned here with the situation in which one has a farmhouse as generally understood, that is, as opposed to a farm cottage, which is not needed temporarily and is let. The case which I have often come across, which I mentioned in Committee, is instanced by, say, an uncle dying and leaving the farm to a nephew, the young man being only 16 or so and living with his family on another farm. Under the present law, the farmhouse, if let at other than a peppercorn rent, is not recoverable when the young man needs it, and lack of a farmhouse on a farm, of course, greatly detracts from the usefulness, value and efficiency of the farm.

This is a fairly practical step forward. The protections to which the hon. Gentleman referred are rightly there. The application for recovery must be made within five years of the farmhouse having been used as such, and the only slight reservation I have is about this time limit. I can still see possible difficulties here. Nevertheless, I do not wish to be ungracious, and I am sure that my hon. Friend do not. Let us give this a fair wind and see how it works.

Question put and agreed to

Subsequent Lords Amendment agreed to