Agriculture Act 1947

31 Restrictions on termination by notice of tenancies of holdings.

(1) Where notice to quit a holding or part of a holding is given to the tenant thereof, and not later than one month from the giving of the notice to quit the tenant serves on the landlord notice in writing requiring that this subsection shall apply to the notice to quit, then subject to the provisions of the next following subsection the notice to quit shall not have effect unless the Minister consents to the operation thereof.

(2) The last foregoing subsection shall not apply—

(a) where the Minister has consented under this section to the operation of the notice to quit before the giving thereof, and that fact is stated in the notice ;

(b) where one or more of the conditions specified in paragraphs (a) to (e) of subsection (1) of the last foregoing section is fulfilled, and it is stated in the notice to quit that the notice is given by reason thereof ;

(c) where the notice to quit is given on the ground that the land is required for a use, other than for agriculture, for which permission has been granted on an application made under the enactments relating to town and country planning, or for which (otherwise than by virtue of any provision of those enactments) such permission is not required, and that fact is stated in the notice.

(3) Without prejudice to the discretion of the Minister in a case falling within paragraphs (a) to (d) of this subsection, the Minister shall withhold his consent under this section to the operation of a notice to quit unless he is satisfied—

(a) that the carrying out of the purpose for which the landlord proposes to terminate the tenancy is desirable in the interests of efficient farming whether as respects good estate management or good husbandry or otherwise; or

(b) that the carrying out thereof is otherwise desirable for the purposes of agricultural research, education, experiment or demonstration or for the purposes of the enactments relating to smallholdings or allotments ; or

(c) where the tenancy was created after the passing of this Act, that the landlord proposes to terminate the tenancy for a purpose, specified in the contract of tenancy, for which the interest of the landlord was held immediately before the creation of the tenancy, and that greater hardship would be caused by the Minister's withholding than by his granting his consent to the operation of the notice; or

(d) where the tenancy was created before the passing of this Act and the same person was landlord at the passing thereof as at the time when the notice to quit was given or, if the application for the Minister's consent is made before giving the notice to quit, at the time of the application, that greater hardship would be caused by the Minister's withholding than by his granting his consent to the operation of the notice ; or

(e) that the landlord proposes to terminate the tenancy for the purpose of the land being used for a use, other than for agriculture, not falling within paragraph (c) of the last foregoing subsection.

(4) The Minister shall not give or withhold his consent under this section to the operation of a notice to quit except after affording to the landlord and to the tenant an opportunity of making representations to the Minister, whether in writing or on being heard by a person appointed by the Minister.

(5) Forthwith after the giving or withholding of his consent as aforesaid the Minister shall give notice thereof in writing to the landlord and to the tenant.

(6) If the landlord or the tenant is dissatisfied with the Minister's decision to withhold or to give his consent to the operation of a notice to quit, the landlord or tenant may within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner require that the matter shall be referred to the Agricultural Land Tribunal established under Part V of this Act, and where a reference to the Tribunal under this subsection is duly required subsections (i) to (3) of this section shall have effect with the substitution (except in so much of paragraph (d) of the said subsection (3) as relates to the application for the Minister's consent) for references to the Minister of references to the Tribunal.

(7) Where the Minister or the Agricultural Land Tribunal consent under this section to the operation of a notice to quit, the Minister or the Tribunal may impose such conditions as appear to the Minister or the Tribunal requisite for securing that the land to which the notice relates will be used for the purpose for which the landlord proposes to terminate the tenancy, and if the Minister is satisfied that within a reasonable time after the notice to quit has expired any condition imposed under this section has not been complied with—

(a) the Minister may take possession of the land for the purpose of farming it, and

(b) the provisions of section eighteen of this Act shall apply as they apply where the Minister takes possession of land under that section, but with the substitution for the reference to a requirement of a reference to a condition.

Where on an application by the landlord in that behalf the Minister is satisfied that by reason of any change of circumstances or otherwise any condition imposed under this subsection ought to be varied or revoked, he shall vary or revoke the condition accordingly.

(8) The Minister may make regulations—

(a) for requiring any question arising under subsection (2) of this section to be determined by arbitration under the Act of 1923, for limiting the time within which any such arbitration may be required or any proceedings for the purposes thereof may be taken, and for extending the period within which a notice may be given by the tenant under subsection (1) of this section where any such arbitration is required ;

(b) as to the time within which and the manner in which applications for the Minister's consent to the operation of notices to quit may be made under this section ;

(c) for suspending the operation of notices to quit until the termination of any such arbitration as aforesaid or of any reference to the Agricultural Land Tribunal under this section;

(d) for postponing the date at which a tenancy is to be terminated by a notice to quit which has effect in consequence of any such arbitration or reference as aforesaid;

(e) for excluding the application of subsection (1) of this section in relation to sub-tenancies in such cases as may be prescribed, and for making such provision as appears to the Minister expedient for the purpose of safeguarding the interest of sub-tenants, including provision enabling the Minister or the Agricultural Land Tribunal, where the interest of a tenant is terminated by notice to quit, to secure that a sub-tenant will hold from the landlord on the like terms as he held from the tenant.

(9) Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (2) of section twenty-five of the Act of 1923 (which provide that twelve months' notice to terminate the tenancy of a holding shall not be required in the case of land of which possession is resumed for the purposes of government departments, local authorities or statutory undertakers) shall cease to have effect except in the case of a tenancy subsisting under a contract entered into before the twenty-fifth day of March, nineteen hundred and forty-seven.

(10) Nothing in this section shall apply to any such notice as is specified in subsection (8) of the last foregoing section.