Coal-Mining (Subsidence) Act 1957 (repealed 30.11.1991)

10 Special provisions as to certain tenants. E+W+S

(1) The provisions of this section shall have effect in any case where property is affected by subsidence damage and—

(a) a person who is a tenant for the purposes of Part I of the M1 Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 the [F1 Agricultural Holdings Act 1986]or the M2 Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1949 a landholder for the purposes of the Small Landholders (Scotland) Acts 1886 to 1931 or a crofter for the purposes of the M3 Crofters (Scotland) Act 1955 would have been entitled under any enactment contained in those Acts to remove that property or to be paid compensation in respect thereof by his landlord if his tenancy had terminated immediately before the damage occurred; and

(b) apart from the provisions of this section, neither the person aforesaid nor any other person would be liable to make good the damage in whole or in part;

and in the following provisions of this section the expression “protected tenant” in relation to any property means the person who would have been entitled as aforesaid in respect of that property.

(2) Where the damaged property is property in respect of which the protected tenant would have been entitled to compensation as aforesaid, the protected tenant shall, subject to subsection (5) of this section, be treated for the purposes of this Act either—

(a) as a person liable to make good the whole of the damage to the property; or

(b) if by reason of any other enactment contained in the Acts aforesaid compensation in respect of the property would have been payable to him as aforesaid of less than the amount otherwise provided for by subsection (1) of section one of the said Act of 1927, [F2 section 66(1) of, or paragraph 2(1) of Part I of Schedule 9 to, the said Act of 1986], section thirty-eight or subsection (1) of section forty-nine of the said Act of 1949, so much of section ten of the M4 Crofters Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886 as precedes the proviso thereto, [F3 subsection (2) of section 6 of the M5 Crofters (Scotland) Act 1961], as the case may be, as a person liable to meet such part of the cost of making good the whole of the damage to the property as bears to the whole of that cost the same proportion that the compensation which would have been payable bears to the amount otherwise provided for as aforesaid:

Provided that, for the purposes of this section, there shall be deemed to be omitted from the said section ten the words from “and the value” onwards.

(3) Where any of the property consists of a building or structure which the protected tenant would have been entitled to remove as aforesaid, then, without prejudice to any liability of the [F4 Corporation]in respect of damage to that building or structure, paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section one of this Act shall have effect in relation to the site thereof as if that building or structure had not been erected.

(4) Any question arising under this section in relation to any property as to whether or not any person is a protected tenant or as to the amount of any compensation which would have been payable to him as aforesaid under any of the Acts aforesaid shall be determined in like manner as if it had arisen under the Act in question.

(5) Where in the case of any damaged property it is claimed that a person who, apart from the provisions of this section, is neither the owner of, nor liable to make good in whole or in part the damage to, the property falls to be treated as so liable by virtue of this section, and a damage notice is served in respect of the property, whether by that or any other person, that person shall not be treated as liable as aforesaid unless—

(a) either it is agreed between that person and his landlord before the expiration of the period of one month from the first service of a damage notice in respect of the property, or it is determined in proceedings by virtue of the last foregoing subsection begun before the expiration of that period, that that person is a protected tenant in relation to that property; and

(b) notice in writing of that agreement or of the beginning of those proceedings has been given to the [F4 Corporation]before the expiration of the said period;

and where the liability of the [F4 Corporation]to comply with any requirement of this Act in consequence of the service of the damage notice depends on the determination of the question whether or not that person falls to be treated as liable as aforesaid, the [F4 Corporation]shall not be required to comply with that requirement until it is established in accordance with the provisions of this subsection whether or not that person falls to be so treated.

(6) For the purposes of the last foregoing subsection, proceedings to determine by arbitration whether or not a person is a protected tenant by virtue of the said [F5 Act of 1986] or the said Act of 1949 shall be deemed to be begun when either an arbitrator or, as the case may be, an arbiter has been appointed by agreement between that person and his landlord or an application for the appointment of an arbitrator or, as the case may be, an arbiter has been made to the [F6 President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors]or, as the case may be, to the Secretary of State by either that person or his landlord.

(7) Subsection (1) of section eight of the M6 Small Landholders (Scotland) Act 1911 other than the provisos thereto, and subsection (3) of section twenty-three of the said Act of 1955 (which provide that the agreement for a loan by the Secretary of State to a landholder or, as the case may be, crofter shall effect a transfer to the Secretary of State of all rights of the landholder or crofter to compensation for permanent improvements) shall have effect as if the references therein to such compensation included references to any amount payable to the landholder or crofter by virtue of this section.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words substituted by Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 (c. 5, SIF 2:3), ss. 99, 100, Sch. 13 para. 3, Sch. 14 para. 24(2)

F2 Words substituted by Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 (c. 5, SIF 2:3), ss. 99, 100, Sch. 13 para. 3, Sch. 14 para. 24(3)

F3 Words substituted by virtue of Interpretation Act 1978 (c. 30), s. 17(2)(a)

F4 Word substituted by Coal Industry Act 1987 (c. 3, SIF 86), s. 1(1)(2), Sch. 1 para. 5(b)

F5 Words substituted by Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 (c. 5, SIF 2:3), ss. 99, 100, Sch. 13 para. 3, Sch. 14 para. 24(4)(a)

F6 Words substituted by Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 (c. 5, SIF 2:3), ss. 99, 100, Sch. 13 para. 3, Sch. 14 para. 24(4)(b)

Marginal Citations

M1 1927 c. 36.

M2 1949 c. 75.

M3 1955 c. 21.

M4 1886 c. 29.

M5 1961 c. 58.

M6 1911 c. 49.