Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act, 1943

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Protection of lessees under expired leases.

3.—(1) Where a lease (in this sub-section referred to as the expired lease) which expired after the passing of the Principal Act and before the passing of this Act was not at its expiration a building lease as defined in sub-section (1) of section 46 of the Principal Act but would, if it had expired after the passing of this Act, have been either a building lease as defined in the said sub-section (1) as amended by this Act, or a partly-built lease within the meaning of the next preceding section, such of the following provisions as is or are applicable shall apply and have effect, that is to say:—

(a) where—

(i) the expired lease would have been a building lease as defined in sub-section (1) of the said section 46 as amended by this Act if it had expired after the passing of this Act, and

(ii) the lessee under the expired lease is, at the passing of this Act, in possession of the land or any part of the land comprised in the expired lease, and

(iii) the granting (under Part V of the Principal Act) to such lessee of a reversionary lease of such land or the part thereof of which he is so in possession (as the case may be) would not prejudice or affect any right acquired before the 1st day of March, 1943, by any person other than such lessee and the person liable to grant such reversionary lease,

then and in such case such lessee shall, during six months after the passing of this Act, have the same rights in relation to obtaining (under the said Part V) a reversionary lease of the said land or the said part thereof (as the case may be) as he would have had during the seven years next before the expiration of the expired lease if this Act had then been in force;

(b) where—

(i) the expired lease would have been a partly-built lease within the meaning of the next preceding section if it had expired after the passing of this Act, and

(ii) the lessee under the expired lease is, at such passing, in possession of the whole or some part of so much (in this section referred to as the built-on land) of the land demised by the expired lease as would have been comprised in the built-on lease arising on the division (under the said next preceding section) of the expired lease if that lease had expired after the passing of this Act, and

(iii) the granting (under Part V of the Principal Act) to such lessee of a reversionary lease of the built-on land or the part thereof of which he is in possession (as the case may be) would not prejudice or affect any right acquired before the 1st day of March, 1943, by any person other than such lessee and the person liable to grant such reversionary lease,

then and in such case such lessee shall, during six months after the passing of this Act, have the same rights in relation to obtaining (under the said Part V) a reversionary lease of the built-on land or the said part thereof (as the case may be) as he would have had during the seven years next before the expiration of the expired lease if this Act had then been in force;

(c) where—

(i) a lessee (in this sub-section referred to as a sublessee) under a lease which is a sublease (whether mediate or immediate) under the expired lease is, at such passing, in possession (where the expired lease would have been a building lease if this Act had been in force at its expiration) of the land or part of the land demised by the expired lease or (where the expired lease would have been a partly-built lease if this Act had been in force at its expiration) of the built-on land or part of that land, and

(ii) such sublease would at its expiration (if this Act had then been in force) have been a proprietary lease as defined in sub-section (2) of section 46 of the Principal Act, and

(iii) the granting (under Part V of the Principal Act) to such sublessee of a reversionary lease of the land of which he is so in possession would not prejudice or affect any right acquired before the 1st day of March, 1943, by any person other than such sublessee and the person liable to grant such reversionary lease,

then and in such case such sublessee shall, during six months after the passing of this Act, have the same rights in relation to obtaining (under the said Part V) a reversionary lease of the said land of which he is so in possession as he would have had during the seven years next before the expiration of such sublease if this Act had then been in force;

(d) in a case to which any of the foregoing paragraphs of this sub-section applies, the fact that the lessee or sublessee to whom that paragraph applies has taken or agreed to take from his landlord or a superior landlord a lease or other letting (other than a reversionary lease the terms of which are not less favourable to such lessee or sublessee (as the case may be) than the terms which might have been fixed by the Court under sub-section (1) of section 48 of the Principal Act) of the land of which he is in such possession as is mentioned in that paragraph shall not prevent or prejudice the obtaining by such lessee or sublessee (as the case may be) by virtue of the said paragraph of a reversionary lease of the said land under Part V of the Principal Act, and, on such lessee or sublessee so obtaining such reversionary lease, the said lease or letting or the agreement therefor (as the case may be) so taken or made by him from or with his landlord or superior landlord shall become null and void, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done in pursuance of a covenant or condition contained in such lease, letting or agreement.

(2) Where a lease (in this sub-section referred to as the terminated lease) was, after the passing of the Principal Act and before the passing of this Act, terminated (before the expiration thereof by effluxion of time) by ejectment for non-payment of rent, breach of covenant, or otherwise, or by the exercise by the lessor of a power of re-entry for breach of a covenant or a condition contained in the terminated lease, and the terminated lease was not, at the date of its termination, a building lease as defined in sub-section (1) of section 46 of the Principal Act but would, if this Act had been in force on that date, have been either a building lease as defined in the said sub-section (1) as amended by this Act or a partly-built lease within the meaning of the next preceding section, the following provisions shall apply and have effect, that is to say:—

(a) a person who was, at the termination of the terminated lease, in possession of the land or any part of the land comprised in the terminated lease and was so in possession thereof under a sub-lease (whether mediate or immediate) under the terminated lease which would have been a proprietary lease (as defined in sub-section (2) of section 46 of the Principal Act) if this Act had then been in force, shall, if he is in possession of the said land or the said part thereof (as the case may be) at the passing of this Act, be deemed to be and always to have been in such possession under a proprietary lease and shall have and be deemed always to have had, in relation to the said land or the said part thereof (as the case may be), all the rights, privileges, and protections conferred on lessees under proprietary leases by Part V of the Principal Act;

(b) where a person to whom the foregoing paragraph of this section applies has, subsequent to the termination of the terminated lease, taken or agreed to take a lease or other letting of the land of which he is so in possession as is mentioned in that paragraph from the landlord who terminated the terminated lease, such lease or letting or the agreement therefor (as the case may be) shall, on the passing of this Act, become null and void, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done in pursuance of a covenant contained in such lease, letting, or agreement.