Conditions in lease of field
The lease of a field granted for agricultural purposes is due to expire. The field's owner wishes to change certain conditions regulating the lease before renewing it. What is the position at law? According to the provisions of the Agricultural Leases...
The lease of a field granted for agricultural purposes is due to expire. The field's owner wishes to change certain conditions regulating the lease before renewing it. What is the position at law?
According to the provisions of the Agricultural Leases (Reletting) Act, a tenant of an agricultural tenement shall have the right to continue renewing the lease on the same terms and conditions as the original one.
However, if the landlord intends to change the conditions of the lease upon its renewal, he should, on the expiration of the original term, apply to the Rural Leases Control Board by means of an application containing details of the proposed changes. This application must be filed within three months of the expiration of the lease.
The Rural Leases Control Board may either dismiss the application or may modify the propositions set forth by the owner and approve them to the extent justified by law. In no case, however, shall the conditions be less favourable to the owner than those of the preceding lease.
If the owner intends to renew possession of the field at the expiration of the lease, he must apply to the Board by means of an application which must contain the details of the grounds for such termination and a demand for the liquidation of any compensation due. The application must be filed not later than three months before the current lease terminates.
It will be in the Board's discretion to determine whether in fact there exists any of the grounds established under the Agricultural Leases (Reletting) Act which grants the lessor the right to resume possession of the agricultural tenement in question.
All applications made before the Board must be filed against and served on the tenant from whom the owner has last received the rent before the application was filed in the Board's Registry.
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