HC Deb 20 October 1949 vol 468 cc62-3W
Mr. Hurd

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the acreage of farm land of which possession was taken by his Department on grounds of bad husbandry; and the numbers of farmers dispossessed in each year from 1939 onwards.

Mr. Woodburn

The acreage of land of which possession was taken under Defence Regulations in the years 1939 to 1948, on the grounds of bad husbandry, was as follows:

Year Arable and grass Deer forests and sheep farms Total
Acres Acres Acres
1939
1940 5,164 134,678 139,842
1941 3,754 19,015 22,769
1942 1,659 8,000 9,659
1943 2,213 89,100 91,313
1944 11,188 11,188
1945 250 250
1946 38 38
1947 270 270
1948
24,536 250,793 275,329

The number of farmers dispossessed is given below. (Dispossession took the form of requisition in the case of owner-occupiers, and termination of tenancy in the case of tenant farmers. Figures for both groups are shown separately.)

Year Dispossession by requisition Dispossession by termination of tenancy Total
No. No. No.
1939 1 1
1940 19 20 39
1941 31 24 55
1942 15 14 29
1943 14 7 21
1944 10 6 16
1945 4 2 6
1946 1 4 5
1947 1 2 3
1948 1 1
95 81 176

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