§
Where—
(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
(b) the tenant is neither—
(c) the creation of the tenancy was not preceded by the carrying out in connection with any of the said land of an amalgamtion approved for the purposes of a scheme under section 26 of the Agriculture Act 1967, and
(d) not later than the relevant date, the tenant was given notice in writing that possession might be recovered under this Case, and
(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
1057
(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 Agriculture Wages Act 1948 and 'amalgamation ' has the same meaning as in Part II of the Agriculture Act 1967.
§ The noble Lord said: My Lords, I beg to move Amendment No. 1, standing in the name of my noble friend Lord Nugent of Guildford, and with your Lordships' permission I will take the other Amendment, No. 2, with it. The effect of these Amendments will be to enable a farmer to let a surplus farmhouse and to recover the house for agricultural use should the need again arise. This will assist agriculture and enable houses to be occupied when sometimes in the past they have deliberately been left empty. However, it has not been found altogether easy to word a new clause to achieve these laudable aims. This is certainly the third attempt, and discussions on this subject extend back to the time of the 1967 Agriculture Act. Our thanks are due to the noble Lord, Lord Beswick, who has largely been instrumental in getting the principle of these Amendments accepted and in arranging the wording, and also to the officials at the Ministry who have put in a lot of work on both these new clauses, the first applying to England and Wales and the second to Scotland.
§ There is one further point that I should like to make. On reading these new clauses your Lordships may agree that they safeguard the retired farmer or the widow. Your Lordships may wish to notice that repossession can be claimed only within five years of such time as the house was last used for agriculture.
§ LORD BESWICKMy Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Belstead, said, this matter has been the cause of a good deal of head-scratching. Two or three weeks ago, three Amendments ago and three stages ago we had our first look at it. I then advised the noble Lord, Lord Nugent of Guildford, that I thought he was going wider than he intended. In fact he was making a breach in the Rent Act that he did not intend to make. I hope that these words, which have been constructed with the help of the Department, 1058 will achieve the objectives we have in mind, and I am glad to support them.
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ LORD BELSTEADMy Lords, I beg to move Amendment No. 2:
§
Amendment moved—
After Clause 99, insert the following new clause:
§ Further provisions as to recovery of possession of redundant farm-houses in Scotland
§ '.—(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—
- (a) the conditions mentioned in subsection (3) of this section are satisfied, and
- (b) apart from the Rent Acts the landlord would be entitled to recover possession of the dwelling-house, and
- (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,
§ (3) The said conditions are—
- (a) that the tenant of the dwelling-house is neither—
- (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
- (ii) a person, or the widow of a person, who is or at any time was employed by the landlord in agriculture; and
- (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
- (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
- (d) that the proceedings for possession are commenced by the landlord before the
1059 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 1920–39, or any of those Acts, and
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 meanings 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'.—(Lord Belstead.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ LORD BESWICKMy Lords, I beg to move that this Bill do now pass.
§ Moved, That the Bill do now pass.—(Lord Beswick.)
§ On Question, Bill passed, and returned to the Commons.