Reserve and Auxiliary Forces (Protection of Civil Interests) Act 1951

30 Power of court to grant new tenancy. E+W

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, on an application under this Part of this Act duly made the court may, if in all the circumstances of the case it appears reasonable to do so, order that there shall be granted to the tenant a tenancy for such period, at such rent and on such terms and conditions as the court in all the circumstances thinks reasonable, and thereafter the parties shall be deemed to have entered into a lease of the premises or part of premises (as the case may be) creating such a tenancy:

Provided that in fixing the rent under this subsection the court shall disregard any consideration arising from the personal circumstances of any of the parties.

(2) Any period for which under the last preceding subsection a tenancy is ordered to be granted shall begin with the end of the expiring tenancy, whether it ends in accordance with the terms thereof or after being continued by subsection (4) of the last preceding section.

(3) In ordering the grant of a new tenancy under this section the court shall so limit the period of the tenancy, or shall order the grant subject to such terms and conditions, as in the opinion of the court may be most suitable for securing that the tenancy shall not extend beyond or may be terminated by the landlord at a time not later than, the expiration of four months from the end of the period of service in consequence of which the application was made:

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall be construed as restricting the discretion of the court in a case where the court thinks it reasonable that the tenancy should come to an end, or be capable of being terminated by the landlord, at any earlier time.

(4) The court shall not order the grant of a new tenancy if it is satisfied—

(a) that the tenant has broken any of the terms or conditions of the expiring tenancy, and that in view of the nature and circumstances of the breach a new tenancy ought not to be granted; or

(b) that the landlord has offered to afford to the tenant, on terms and conditions which in the opinion of the court are reasonable, alternative accommodation which, in the opinion of the court, is suitable for the purposes of the business or professional practice carried on under the expiring tenancy; or

(c) that the landlord reasonably requires possession in order that the premises the subject of the expiring tenancy, or a substantial part of those premises, may be demolished or reconstructed; or

(d) where there subsists in the premises an interest belonging to a public authority, that in the public interest a new tenancy ought not to be granted; or

(e) that having regard to all the circumstances of the case greater hardship would be caused by ordering the grant of a new tenancy than by refusing to do so.

The reference in paragraph (d) of this subsection to an interest belonging to a public authority is a reference to an interest belonging to a Government department or held on behalf of His Majesty for the purposes of a Government department, or held by a local authority (as defined in [F1 the M1 Town and Country Planning Act 1971]), by statutory undertakers (as so defined) or by a development corporation (as defined in [F2 the M2 New Towns Act 1965]).

(5) Where at the commencement of this Act any authority is empowered by any enactment or order to purchase compulsorily land specifically described in that enactment or order, there shall, for the purposes of the last preceding subsection, be deemed, during a period of six months from the commencement of this Act or during such period as the authority remains so empowered as aforesaid (whichever period first expires), to be subsisting in that land an interest belonging to that authority.

(6) A tenancy ordered to be granted under this section shall, where the reversion is subject to a mortgage, be deemed to be a tenancy created by a lease authorised by section ninety-nine of the M3 Law of Property Act 1925.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words substituted by virtue of Town and Country Planning Act 1971 (c. 78), Sch. 24 Pt. I para. 2

F2 Words substituted by virtue of New Towns Act 1965 (c. 59), Sch. 11 para. 5(1)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 30 amended by Water Act 1989 (c. 15, SIF 130), ss. 58(7), 101(1), 141(6), 160(1)(2)(4), 161, 163, 189(4)–(10), 190(1), 193(1), Sch. 25 para. 1(2)(v), Sch. 26 paras. 3(1)(2), 17, 40(4), 57(6), 58

Marginal Citations

M1 1971 c. 78.

M2 1965 c. 59.

M3 1925 c. 20.