Sections 26, 28, 29 and 48.
1For a period of forty years from the time when the provisions of this Schedule first apply to a unit of land (but without prejudice to its application when its provisions come to apply to any part of that land on any other occasion) the conditions specified in this Schedule shall be observed as regards the unit and shall, so far as applicable, be deemed to be part of the terms of any lease, agreement for lease or tenancy of the unit of land, or any part of it, and shall be enforceable accordingly.
2(1)When the conditions so specified first come to apply to a unit of land in England and Wales notice of that fact shall be registered in the register of local land charges by the proper officer of the local authority (not being a county council) in the area in which the unit of land, or any part of it, is situated, and shall be so registered in the prescribed manner.
(2)In relation to the unit of land within sub-paragraph (1) above, the provisions of section 15(1) of the [1925 c. 22.] Land Charges Act 1925 (which make an unregistered charge void in certain circumstances) shall apply as if the conditions were a charge required to be registered under that subsection, and the other provisions of that Act, including in particular section 17(3) (which relates to the conclusive effect of a certificate of search) shall have effect accordingly.
(3)It shall be the duty of the appropriate Minister to give to the local authority's officer the information necessary to enable him to comply with this paragraph.
(4)Where the conditions specified in this Schedule first come to apply to a unit of land in Scotland, the Secretary of State shall cause to be recorded in the General Register of Sasines a notice of that fact; and where the conditions cease to apply as aforesaid the Secretary of State shall cause to be recorded in the General Register of Sasines a notice stating that the conditions no longer apply to that unit of land.
(5)The conditions applied to a unit of land under this Schedule shall be included among the matters which are required to be registered in the Statutory Charges Register in Northern Ireland and accordingly the following paragraph shall be added to section 2(1) of the [1951 c. 3 (N.I.).] Statutory Charges Register Act (Northern Ireland) 1951—
“(x)the conditions applied to a unit of land under the Third Schedule to the Agriculture Act 1967”.
3(1)It shall be a condition that, except with the written consent of the appropriate Minister, no person shall transfer to any other a part only, or any estate or interest in a part only, of the land comprised in the unit.
(2)References in this paragraph to the transfer of land, or of an estate or interest in land, include references to devolution on death or under the terms of a settlement and the High Court may, on the application of a person affected by this sub-paragraph, vary the way in which property is to devolve on a death or under a settlement so that there is no breach of the conditions specified in this paragraph but, subject to that, so that the persons interested in the unit of land, including those to whom property would devolve on the death or under the settlement, so far as required to surrender any interest in the unit of land, are compensated by receiving part of the proceeds of sale of the land or in any other way.
(3)References in this paragraph to the transfer of land, or an estate or interest in land—
(a)include, subject to paragraph (b) below, references to transfer by way of the creation or assignment of a lease, agreement for a lease or tenancy, including in each case a sublease or sub-tenancy,
(b)do not include references to the granting or assignment of any right of occupation the grant of which is made (whether or not expressly to that effect) in contemplation of the use of the land only for grazing or mowing during some specified period of the year, and, without prejudice to the fore going words, in Northern Ireland do not include references to the transfer or assignment of any rights arising by virtue of a conacre agreement,
(c)do not include references to any reconveyance or other transaction by way of discharge of a mortgage, heritable security or charge, or of the release or disburdening of any land from a mortgage, heritable security or charge.
(4)The application of this paragraph to any transaction shall not invalidate that transaction, but this sub-paragraph shall not be taken as affecting the terms written into a lease, agreement or tenancy by paragraph 1 of this Schedule.
4It shall be a condition that, except with the written consent of the appropriate Minister, the whole of the unit of land shall at all times be used for agricultural purposes.
5It shall be a condition that the owner of the unit of land shall, on being required so to do by the appropriate Minister, certify that the conditions in paragraphs 3 and 4 above are being observed with respect to the unit of land, and any tenant of the unit of land shall, on being so required in writing by the owner, furnish to him such information as he may reasonably require for the purpose of enabling him to comply with this condition.
6(1)The appropriate Minister—
(a)may, when giving his consent under paragraph 3 or paragraph 4 above, direct that the conditions, or any of them, specified in this Schedule shall cease to be applicable to the unit of land, or to any part thereof specified in the direction, or
(b)may give his consent under either of those paragraphs subject to the condition that this Schedule shall apply to such different unit of land as may be specified in the condition,
but shall, before exercising the power conferred on him by paragraph (b) of this sub-paragraph first satisfy himself that all persons who will have an estate or interest in the unit of land to which this Schedule is so applied are parties to the application for consent.
(2)The appropriate Minister may give his consent under either of those paragraphs subject to payment to him of all or any part of the amount which would be payable under paragraph 7(1)(a) below on a breach of the condition to which the application relates by the applicant.
7(1)A person by whom the condition specified in paragraph 3 or paragraph 4 above is breached as respects any unit of land shall be liable to pay to the appropriate Minister—
(a)an amount equal to the relevant Exchequer payments, together (except in the case of relevant Exchequer payments representing a loan or interest on a loan) with interest until payment from such date, not being earlier than the relevant date, and at such rate, as may be determined by the appropriate Minister with the approval of the Treasury, and
(b)subject to sub-paragraph (2) below, an additional amount equal to so much of the value of the unit, when subject to the conditions imposed by this Schedule, as is attributable to the land which is the subject of the breach,
and the amount which that person is liable to pay under this sub-paragraph shall be a charge on all the estate and interest in the land comprised in the unit which he had at the time of the breach, binding him and his successors in title.
(2)The additional amount payable by virtue of sub-paragraph (1)(b) above shall not exceed—
(a)the amount by which the value of the land which is the subject of the breach, when freed from all conditions under this Schedule, exceeds the value attributable thereto as mentioned in that sub-paragraph, or
(b)one thousand pounds,
whichever is the greater, taking, where the breach consists of a sale of land, the value of what is sold, when freed from all conditions under this Schedule, as not less than the purchase price.
(3)Before commencing proceedings against any person to enforce the liability imposed on him by, or the charge arising under, sub-paragraph (1) above, the appropriate Minister shall serve on him a notice specifying the condition alleged to have been breached and, if it is the condition relating to use, the nature of the use constituting the breach; and, unless within two months of the service of the notice that person has—
(a)admitted in writing the breach and his liability in respect thereof or, as the case may be, the breach and the existence of the charge, and
(b)agreed in writing the amount recoverable by virtue of paragraph (b) of that sub-paragraph,
the matter or matters still in issue shall be determined by arbitration.
(4)Section 77 of the [1948 c. 63.] Agricultural Holdings Act 1948 (procedure for arbitrations) shall have effect as if any such matter were one required by that Act to be determined by arbitration under that Act.
(5)Sections 75 and 77 of the [1949 c. 75.] Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1949 (provisions regarding arbitrations) shall have effect as if any question in sub-paragraph (3) above were a matter required by that Act to be determined thereunder; and sections 78 and 87(2) of that Act shall have effect as if the parties to the dispute were the landlord and tenant of an agricultural holding.
(6)For the purposes of the [1939 c. 21.] Limitation Act 1939, no cause of action or right to receive money shall be deemed to have accrued to the appropriate Minister by virtue of sub-paragraph (1) above until the date on which he served the notice referred to in sub-paragraph (3) above.
(7)If a breach of either of the said conditions constitutes a breach of the terms of any lease, agreement for a lease or tenancy (whether written in by paragraph 1 of this Schedule or not) any person who is or was at any time entitled under the lease, agreement or tenancy to enforce those terms, or to exercise by forfeiture or otherwise any sanction for their breach, shall be liable to pay to the appropriate Minister the amounts specified in sub-paragraph (1) above so far as not recovered from any other person unless he shows to the satisfaction of the court in which proceedings for recovery are taken against him that he has, in exercise of those rights, taken all reasonable steps to prevent the breach, and to make good the results of the breach.
(8)On the receipt by the appropriate Minister of all sums due to him under this paragraph in consequence of a breach or, if he accepts a lesser amount in satisfaction of those sums, on the giving by him of a written discharge therefor, the conditions specified in this Schedule, so far as applied by reference to the relevant Exchequer payments taken into account in arriving at those sums or by reason of the making of any grant under section 27(1)(a) of this Act, shall cease to be applicable to the unit of land.
(9)A person shall not be liable to pay any part of the relevant Exchequer payments both under this Schedule and under some other provision of this Act, or where he has already become so liable by reason of a previous breach of condition.
8If the appropriate Minister is satisfied that a breach of any of the conditions specified in paragraph 3 or 4 above is capable of being remedied he may, subject to any conditions he may impose, direct that the operation of the last foregoing paragraph shall in relation to the breach be suspended for such period as appears to him to be necessary for enabling the breach to be remedied, and if the breach is remedied to his satisfaction within that period he shall direct that the last foregoing paragraph shall not apply to the breach.
9In this Schedule " owner ", in relation to any land other than in Scotland, means a person, other than a mortgagee not in possession, who is entitled to receive the rack rent of the land or, where the land is not let at a rack rent, would be so entitled if it were so let; and in relation to any land in Scotland, means a person who for the time being is entitled to receive, or would, if the land were let, be entitled to receive, the rent of the land, including a trustee, tutor, curator, factor or agent.
10In relation to land which is subject to the provisions of the Crofters (Scotland) Acts 1955 and 1961, or of the Small Landholders (Scotland) Acts 1886 to 1931, " agricultural purposes " shall, for the purposes of this Schedule, include any subsidiary or auxiliary occupation permitted by paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 to the [1955 c. 21.] Crofters (Scotland) Act 1955 or by section 10 of the [1911 c. 49.] Small Landholders (Scotland) Act 1911 as the case may be.
11In relation to Scotland, any reference in this Schedule to the High Court shall be construed as a reference to the Court of Session ; and in paragraph 7(1) for the words from " and the amount" to the end of the sub-paragraph there shall be substituted the words " and the appropriate Minister may make an order in favour of himself providing and declaring that the land comprised in the unit shall be charged and burdened with an annuity to pay the amount which that person is liable to pay under this sub-paragraph, and the provisions of section 16 of and paragraphs 2 to 8 of Schedule 6 to the [1959 c. 24.] Building (Scotland) Act 1959 shall apply in relation to any such order as they apply in relation to a charging order within the meaning of that Schedule. "
12In relation to Northern Ireland—
(a)any reference in this Schedule to the High Court shall be construed as a reference to the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland;
(b)in paragraph 7(3) above, for the words " determined by arbitration " there shall be substituted the words " referred to and determined by the Lands Tribunal for Northern Ireland ";
(c)paragraph 7(4) and (5) above shall be omitted ;
(d)for any reference to the [1939 c. 21.] Limitation Act 1939 there shall be' substituted a reference to the [1958 c. 10 (N.I.).] Statute of Limitations (Northern Ireland) 1958.