(1)In section 75 of the [1891 c. 39.] Stamp Act 1891 (agreements for leases for terms not exceeding 35 years to be stamped as if they were leases) in subsection (1) the words "not exceeding thirty-five years " shall be omitted and for subsection (2) (5 pence stamp on lease in conformity with duly stamped agreement) there shall be substituted the following subsection:—
“(2)Where duty has been duly paid on an agreement for a lease or tack and, subsequent to that agreement, a lease or tack is granted which either—
(a)is in conformity with the agreement, or
(b)relates to substantially the same property and term as the agreement,
then the duty which would otherwise be charged on the lease or tack shall be reduced (or, as the case may be, extinguished) by the deduction therefrom of the duty paid on the agreement.”
(2)In any case where—
(a)an interest in land is conveyed or transferred subject to an agreement for a lease or tack for a term exceeding 35 years, or
(b)a lease or tack is granted subject to an agreement for a lease or tack for a term exceeding 35 years,
then, whether or not the conveyance, transfer, lease or tack is expressed to be so subject, it shall not be taken to be duly stamped unless there is denoted upon the conveyance, transfer, lease or tack the duty paid on the agreement; and section 11 of the Stamp Act 1891 shall have effect for this purpose as if the duty chargeable on the conveyance, transfer, lease or tack depended on the duty paid on the agreement.
(3)For the purposes of subsection (2) above, an interest conveyed or transferred or, as the case may be, a lease or tack granted is not to be regarded as subject to an agreement for a lease or tack if that agreement is directly enforceable against another interest in the land in relation to which the interest conveyed or transferred or, as the case may be, the lease or tack granted is a superior interest.
(4)In section 15 of the Stamp Act 1891 (stamping of instruments after execution) in the Table following paragraph (d) of subsection (2) (instruments as to which certain special provisions apply), after the entry beginning " lease or tack ", there shall be inserted:—
“Agreement for lease or tack chargeable under section 75. | The person contracting for the lease or tack to be granted to him or another.” |
(5)This section applies to any agreement for a lease or tack entered into on or after 20th March 1984 and shall be deemed to have come into force on that date.