Landlord and Tenant Act 1954

61 Modification of Parts I and II in relation to tenancies of ecclesiastical property.

(1) Where, as respects a tenancy to which section one or Part II of this Act applies, the landlord or a superior landlord is the incumbent of a benefice—

(a) the consent of the Church Commissioners but of no other person shall be required to any such agreement as is mentioned in Part I or Part II of this Act entered into by the incumbent, and to anything done by the incumbent in pursuance of any such agreement or of any of the provisions of the said Part I or the said Part II, or to the granting by him of any tenancy in pursuance of a tenant's request made under the said Part II;

(b) any payment required for the carrying out of initial repairs under the said Part I and any payment of compensation under section thirty-seven of this Act may, if the Church Commissioners think fit, be made by them, on behalf of the incumbent, out of any moneys in their hands, and any payment for accrued tenant's repairs under the said Part I shall be made to the Commissioners instead of to the incumbent and shall be applied by them in repayment of any sum paid by them under this paragraph for the carrying out of initial repairs;

(c) the Church Commissioners shall be entitled to appear and be heard in any proceedings under the said Part I or the said Part II to which the incumbent is a party, and any order made in any such proceedings against the incumbent shall be binding on the Commissioners so far as it relates to the grant or the terms of any tenancy or any of the matters mentioned in section seven or section eight of this Act;

(d) for the purposes of the said Part I and the said Part II the incumbent's interest shall be treated as vesting in the Church Commissioners during any vacancy of the benefice;

(e) the revenues and possessions of the benefice shall stand charged with the repayment of any sum expended by the Church Commissioners in pursuance of paragraph (b) or paragraph (d) of this subsection.

(2) This section shall apply to benefices the patronage of which belongings to Her Majesty in right of the Crown or the Duchy of Lancaster or to the Duchy of Cornwall as it applies to other benefices.