Agriculture Act 1947

94 Limitation of period of compulsory hiring

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, no compulsory hiring of land under this Act shall be for a term longer than thirty-five years.

(2) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that the fact that the Minister or smallholdings authority is in possession of land by virtue of a compulsory hiring thereof does not prevent the Minister or authority, as the case may be, purchasing the land compulsorily.

(3) Where land has been compulsorily hired under this Act or any enactment thereby repealed and the person who but for the hiring would be entitled to possession of the land requires the land or part thereof for any purpose for which it appears to the Minister expedient that the said person should resume possession thereof, the said person may with the consent of the Minister resume possession of the land or part thereof in question—

(a) in the case of land hired by the Minister, within such period after the granting of the Minister's consent as the Minister may specify;

(b) in the case of land hired by a smallholdings authority, upon giving to the authority twelve months' previous notice in writing of his intention so to do or such shorter notice as may have been specified for the purposes of this subsection in the order authorising the compulsory hiring of the land;

and if possession is resumed by the said person of part only of the land, the rent payable as from the date of resumption in respect of the hiring of the remainder of the land shall be reduced in such proportion as in default of agreement may be determined in the like manner as under the last foregoing section rent is determined for the compulsory hiring of land under this Act.