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

4 Special provisions as to leases and hire-purchase agreements

(1) Where under section two of this Act the appropriate court refuses, or grants subject to restrictions and conditions, leave to enforce a judgment or order for the recovery of possession in default of payment of rent of any premises, the lease shall be deemed not to have been forfeited by reason of the default so long as the judgment or order remains unenforceable ; and a judgment or order shall be deemed to have remained unenforceable, notwithstanding that it has at some time been enforceable, if before it is enforced it again becomes unenforceable.

(2) A judgment or order for the recovery of possession of a dwelling house to which the Rent Restrictions Acts apply shall be deemed for the purposes of the foregoing provisions of this Act to be a judgment or order for the recovery of possession of the dwelling house in default of payment of rent if the court in giving or making the judgment or order was exercising the power conferred by paragraph (a) of the First Schedule to the Rent Act of 1933 on the sole ground that rent lawfully due from the tenant had not been paid and was not exercising any other power conferred by that Schedule.

(3) On an application under section two of this Act for leave to enforce a judgment or order for the recovery in default of payment of rent of possession of land held in distinct parcels under one lease by two or more lessees, the court may (notwithstanding that a single rent was reserved by the lease and the proviso for re-entry in default of payment of the rent was not severable) order that the application shall be dealt with as if those parcels had been held under distinct leases and applications were being made for leave to enforce separate judgments or orders in relation thereto, and may make such consequential provision as seems just for the apportionment of the arrears of rent, for the relief of any lessee from forfeiture of the parcel held by him and for the adjustment of the rights and obligations under the lease of the parties to the application.

(4) Where the appropriate court refuses leave under subsection (4) of section two of this Act to take possession of goods let under a hire-purchase agreement or to execute a judgment or order for the delivery of such goods, or gives such leave subject to restrictions and conditions, and the hirer, before possession is taken or execution on the judgment or order is completed, pays the hire-purchase price, the owner's title to the goods, shall, notwithstanding any failure to pay the hire-purchase price at the times required by the agreement, vest in the hirer.

(5) Where the owner of goods let under a hire-purchase agreement has taken possession of the goods, the appropriate court on an application made under paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section three of this Act may, if it sees fit so to do, deal with the case as if he were proceeding to take possession of them and, if it makes an order under that paragraph, may direct accordingly that the goods shall be restored to the hirer; and if, after the owner has taken possession of the goods, notice is given under that paragraph with respect to them, he shall not, so long as the notice is in force or any application in pursuance thereof is undisposed of, deal with the goods in such a way as to prejudice the powers of the appropriate court under this subsection.

(6) In this section the expressions " hire-purchase agreement ", " hire-purchase price ", " owner " and " hirer " have the meanings respectively assigned to them by section twenty-one of the Hire Purchase Act, 1938:

Provided that the expression " hire-purchase agreement" includes an agreement for the sale of goods under which the price is payable by instalments and the property in the goods remains in the seller, notwithstanding that the buyer is in possession of the goods, until such conditions as to the payment of instalments or otherwise as may be specified in the agreement are fulfilled, and the other expressions above referred to and the expression " let" shall be construed accordingly.