HL Deb 29 November 1920 vol 42 cc713-6

Order of the Day for the Third Reading read.

THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE OF WAR (VISCOUNT PEEL)

My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a third time.

Moved accordingly, and, on Question, Bill read 3a.

Clause 1:

Power to dispose al land free from restrictive covenant.

1.—(1) Where land which, or an interest in which, has been or is hereafter acquired under the Defence of the Realm (Acquisition of Land) Act, 1916 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), was immediately before its acquisition subject to a restrictive covenant which before the fourth day of November, nineteen hundred and twenty, had lawfully been contravened, and the land or interest therein is disposed of in pursuance of the powers conferred by section five of that Act, it may be disposed of free from the restriction imposed by the covenant, and shall be deemed to have been so disposed of, if expressed to be disposed of in pursuance of the powers conferred by the principal Act and this Act but not otherwise.

(2) Where any such land or interest is disposed of free from such restriction, no person shall have the right of enforcing the covenant against the person to whom the land or interest is disposed of or his successors in title, but if at any time after such disposition Any person who, but for this section, would have had a right to enforce the covenant, establishes sack right, there shall be paid to him compensation to be determined in manner provided by the Lands Clauses Act as modified by the principal Act and the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919, with respect to interests in lands which have been omitted to be purchased, and upon payment of such compensation the right shall, as against hint and all persons deriving title through hint be absolutely discharged:

Provided that in assessing the compensation, the official arbitrator shall take into consideration any compensation which may have been paid or be payable in respect of the covenant under section four of the principal Act:

Provided further that this section shall not apply to any restrictive covenant entered into for the protection and maintenance of any building scheme or for the preservation of the amenities of any dwelling-house in the occupation of a person entitled to enforce such covenant.

(3) In the application of this section to Scotland "restrictive covenant." shall mean any obligation imposed by way of real burden or reservation or condition running wit h or affecting the land, whereby any restriction on the alienation or transfer of possession of the land, or on the use or enjoyment, thereof, is effected.

VISCOUNT PEEL moved, at the end of subsection (1), to insert "Provided that, where the covenant is one entered into for the protection and maintenance of any building scheme, or for the preservation of the amenities of any dwelling-house in the occupation of a person entitled to enforce the covenant, this section shall not apply unless the Railway and Canal Commission, on the application of the occupying department, and having regard to all the circumstances of the case, direct that it shall apply."

The noble Viscount said: My Lords, I think I need say nothing about this and the following Amendments because they meet the point raised by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Sumner, and in all cases lay the duty on the Railway and Canal Commissioners of saying whether restricted covenants should be abrogated or not.

Amendment moved— Clause 1, page 1, line 16, at end insert the said words.—(Viscount Peel.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

VISCOUNT PEEL moved, in subsection (2), to delete the last proviso.

Amendment moved— Clause 1, page 2, leave out lines 9 to 13.—(Viscount Peel.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 3:

Provision as to acquisition and possession of land under the principal Act.

3.—(1) It is hereby declared that— (a) the power of acquiring land or interest in land conferred by section three of the principal Act authorises, and shall be deemed always to have authorised, such acquisition for the purposes of re-sale, in cases when such re-sale is required with a view to the realisation to the best possible advantage of the value of buildings and works erected, executed, or constructed wholly or partly at the expense of the State, or of any State which acted in alliance or in naval or military co-operation with His Majesty during the war, or when for any other reason it appears to the Railway and Canal Commission expedient in the financial interests of the State or of such State that the acquisition for such purposes should be authorised;

VISCOUNT PEEL moved, in subsection (1) (a), to leave out "to the Railway and Canal Commission."

Amendment moved— Clause 3, page 3, line 13, leave out ("to the Railway and Canal Commission").—(Viscount Peel.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 5:

Provisions as to retention of possession and acquisition of land belonging to railway companies, etc.

5.—(1) For paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section thirteen of the principal Act, the following paragraph shall be substituted:— (b) land belonging to any company or corporation carrying on a railway, dock, canal, water, or other public undertaking, other than—

  1. (i) land which having before the commencement of the present war been used for the purposes of the undertaking, had before that date ceased to be so used; and
  2. (ii) land which had never been so used before that date, or' which has been acquired by the company or corporation by agreement without statutory powers for the purpose, not being in either case shown to the satisfaction of the Railway and Canal Commission to be land required for the purposes of the undertaking."

(2) Where under the said subsection the consent of the appropriate Government department to the retention of the possession of land mentioned in the said paragraph (b) is requested by the occupying department, the first-mentioned department, in determining whether consent shall be given, shall taken into consideration the expediency of such retention for enabling the realisation to the best possible advantage of the value of buildings and works erected, executed, or constructed on the land wholly or partly at the expense of the State.

VISCOUNT PEEL moved, in subsection (1) (b) (ii), to omit "or which has been acquired by the company or corporation by agreement without statutory powers for the purpose."

Amendment moved— Clause 5, page 5, line 14, leave out from ("date") to ("not") in line l6.—(Viscount Peel.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

VISCOUNT PEEL

The remainder of the Amendments are drafting.

Amendments moved—

Clause 5, page 5, line 17, after ("case") insert ("land")

Clause 5, page 5, line 18, leave out ("land")

Clause 5, page 5, line 25, leave out from ("consideration") to end of subsection (2), and insert ("all the circumstances of the case").—(Viscount Peel.)

On Question, Amendments agreed to.

On Question, Bill passed and sent to the Commons.