Agriculture Act 1947

General.

40 Restriction on letting agricultural land for less than from year to year.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, where under an agreement made after the commencement of this Part of this Act any land is let to a person for use as agricultural land for an interest less than a tenancy from year to year, or a person is granted a licence to occupy land for use as agricultural land, and the circumstances are such that if his interest were a tenancy from year to year he would in respect of that land be the tenant of a holding as denned in the Act of 1923, then, unless the letting or grant was approved by the Minister before the agreement was entered into, the agreement shall take effect, with the necessary modifications, as if it were an agreement for the letting of the land for a tenancy from year to year :

Provided that this subsection shall not have effect in relation to an agreement for the letting of land, or the granting of a licence to occupy land, made (whether or not the agreement expressly so provides) in contemplation of the use of the land only for grazing or mowing during some specified period of the year, or to an agreement for the letting of land, or the granting of a licence to occupy land, by a person whose interest in the land is less than a tenancy from year to year and has not by virtue of this section taken effect as such a tenancy.

(2) Any dispute arising as to the operation of the last foregoing subsection in relation to any agreement shall be determined by arbitration under the Act of 1923.

41 Power of tenant to obtain charge on holding in respect of compensation.

(1) Where after the commencement of this Part of this Act any sum has become due to the tenant of a holding in respect of compensation from the landlord, and the landlord fails to discharge his liability therefor within the period of one month from the date on which the sum became due, the tenant shall be entitled to obtain from the Minister an order in favour of himself, his executors, administrators and assigns charging the holding with repayment of the amount due, and of all costs properly incurred by him in obtaining the charge, with such interest, and by such instalments, and with such directions for giving effect to the charge, as the Minister thinks fit.

(2) Any charge in respect of sums payable to a tenant created under this section or under section fifteen or section forty-one of the Act of 1923 (which provide for charges where a mortgagee takes possession or where the landlord is a trustee) shall rank in priority to any other charge, however and whenever created or arising ; and any charges on a holding created under this section or the said sections fifteen and forty-one shall rank in the order of their creation.

This subsection shall bind the Crown.

(3) Subsections (3) and (5) of section twenty of the Act of 1923 (which prevent the forfeiture of an interest by the creation of a charge under that section and provide for the assignment of such a charge) and subsection (1) of section ten of the Land Charges Act, 1925 (which relates to the registration of certain charges) shall apply to charges obtained under this section as they apply to charges obtained under the said section twenty.

42 Power of limited owner to apply capital moneys for improvements.

(1) Where under powers conferred by the Settled Land Act, 1925, or the Law of Property Act, 1925, capital money is applied in or about the execution of any improvement specified in the Third Schedule to this Act, no provision shall be made for requiring the money or any part thereof to be replaced out of income, and accordingly any such improvement shall be deemed to be an improvement authorised by Part I of the Third Schedule to the [15 & 16 Geo. 5. c. 18.] Settled Land Act, 1925.

(2) Where under powers conferred by the [15 & 16 Geo. 5. c. 24.] Universities and College Estates Act, 1925, capital money is applied in payment for any improvement specified in the Third Schedule to this Act, no provision shall be made for replacing the money out of income unless the Minister requires such provision to be made under subsection (5) of section twenty-six of that Act.

43 Power of landlord to enter on holding.

Without prejudice to the provisions of section twenty-eight of the Act of 1923 (which confers on a landlord power to enter to view the state of a holding), the landlord of a holding or any person authorised by him may at all reasonable times enter on the holding for the purpose of fulfilling the landlord's responsibilities to manage the holding in accordance with the rules of good estate management, or for the purpose of providing or improving fixed equipment on the holding otherwise than in fulfilment of his said responsibilities.

44 Provisions as to arbitration.

(1) Without prejudice to any other provision of this Act or of the Act of 1923, any claim of whatever nature by the tenant or landlord of a holding against his landlord or tenant, being a claim which arises—

(a) under the Act of 1923 or this Act or any custom or agreement, and

(b) on or out of the termination of the tenancy of the holding or part thereof after the commencement of this Part of this Act,

shall, subject to the provisions of this section, be determined by arbitration under the Act of 1923.

(2) No such claim as aforesaid shall be enforceable unless before the expiration of two months from the termination of the tenancy the claimant has served notice in writing on his landlord or tenant, as the case may be, of his intention to make the

A notice under this subsection shall specify the nature of the claim, and it shall be a sufficient specification thereof if the notice refers to the statutory provision, custom, or term of an agreement under which the claim is made.

(3) The landlord and tenant may within the period of four months from the termination of the tenancy by agreement in writing settle any such claim as aforesaid, and the Minister may upon the application of the landlord or the tenant made within that period extend the said period by two months and, on a second such application made during those two months, by a further two months.

(4) Where by the expiration of the said period and any extension thereof made under the last foregoing subsection any such claim as aforesaid has not been settled, the claim shall cease to be enforceable unless before the expiration of one month from the end of the said period and any such extension, or within such longer time as the Minister may in special circumstances allow, an arbitrator has been appointed by agreement between the landlord and the tenant under the provisions in that behalf of the Act of 1923, or an application for the nomination of an arbitrator under those provisions has been made by the landlord or the tenant.

(5) Where a tenant lawfully remains in occupation of part of a holding after the termination of a tenancy, references in subsections (2) and (3) of this section to the termination thereof shall, in the case of a claim relating to that part of the holding, be construed as references to the termination of the occupation.

(6) Nothing in section fifty-four of the Act of 1923 (which contains a general saving for the remedies of a landlord or tenant) shall be construed as limiting the generality of the provisions of subsection (1) of this section.

(7) The provisions of county court rules as to the issuing of witness summonses shall, subject to such modifications as may be prescribed by such rules, apply for the purposes of any arbitration under the Act of 1923 as if it were an action or matter in the county court.

(8) Section five, and subsection (2) of section sixteen, of the Act of 1923 (which relate to the reference of matters to arbitration) shall cease to have effect ; and in subsection (1) of the said section sixteen for the words from the beginning to " referred to arbitration " there shall be substituted the words " Any question which is referred to arbitration under this Act ".

45 Minor and consequential amendments relating to Part III.

The enactments specified in the Seventh Schedule to this Act shall have effect subject to the amendments specified in that Schedule, being minor amendments and amendments consequential on the provisions of this Part of this Act.

46 Construction, citation and application of Part III.

(1) The provisions of this Part of this Act and the Schedules therein referred to shall be construed as one with the Act of 1923 ; and that Act and those provisions may be cited together as the Agricultural Holdings Acts, 1923 to 1947.

(2) Without prejudice to sections forty-three to forty-five of the Act of 1923 (which relate to land belonging to His Majesty in right of the Crown or of the Duchy of Lancaster and land belonging to the Duchy of Cornwall) it is hereby declared that the provisions of the Act of 1923 and this Part of this Act and the Schedules therein referred to apply to land notwithstanding that the interest of the landlord or tenant thereof is held on behalf of His Majesty for the purposes of any Government department ; but in the application thereof to any land belonging, or an interest in which is held, as aforesaid the said provisions shall have effect subject to such modifications as may be prescribed.