Coal Act 1938

8 Rights and obligations arising from contract for sale to have effect in respect of interim period

The rules of law and equity that regulate rights and obligations in relation to land that is the subject of a contract for sale in respect of the period between the date of the contract and the date fixed for completion thereof shall have effect in relation to the premises that are to vest in the Commission by virtue of this Part of this Act in respect of the interim period, subject to and in accordance with the following provisions, that is to say :—

(a) the said rules shall have effect subject to such modifications as are requisite by virtue of the fact that the said premises are to vest by virtue of this Part of this Act in lieu of being conveyed;

(b) full regard shall be had to the nature of the said premises in all respects and, in particular, in determining whether any act or omission involves a breach of the obligation imposed on a vendor by the said rules to take due care of land that is the subject of a contract for sale, no person shall be treated as under obligation to exercise any greater measure of care in relation to any of the said premises than is exercised under the ordinary practice of the management of mineral estates by prudent owners in relation to property that is to continue in their ownership; and

(c) the contract for sale to be assumed for the purposes of the said rules shall be a contract providing expressly that the vendor should be entitled to the possession and enjoyment of the property until the date fixed for completion and to the benefit of the rents and profits thereof accruing up to that date, and that rents and profits accruing, or coal worked, before that date from a mine of coal that is opened after the date of the contract should be treated in like manner as if the mine had been open at the date thereof.