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Statutes of Northern Ireland


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DEFENCE OF THE REALM (ACQUISITION OF LAND) ACT 1920

DEFENCE OF THE REALM (ACQUISITION OF LAND) ACT 1920 - LONG TITLE

An Act to amend the Defence of the Realm (Acquisition of Land)
Act, 1916, and to continue certain byelaws.
[23rd December 1920]
Power to dispose of land free from restrictive covenant.

DEFENCE OF THE REALM (ACQUISITION OF LAND) ACT 1920 - SECT 1

1.(1) Where land which, or an interest in which, has been or is
hereafter acquired under the Defence of the Realm (Acquisition of
Land) Act, 1916 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), was
immediately before its acquisition subject to a restrictive covenant
which before the fourth day of November, nineteen hundred and
twenty, had lawfully been contravened, and the land or interest
therein is disposed of in pursuance of the powers conferred by
section five of that Act, it may be disposed of free from the
restriction imposed by the covenant, and shall be deemed to have
been so disposed of, if expressed to be disposed of in pursuance
of the powers conferred by the principal Act and this Act but not
otherwise:

Provided that, where the covenant is one entered into for the
protection and maintenance of any building scheme, or for the
preservation of the amenities of any dwelling-house in the occupation
of a person entitled to enforce the covenant, this section shall
not apply unless the Railway and Canal Commission, on the
application of the occupying department, and having regard to all
the circumstances of the case, direct that it shall apply.

(2) Where any such land or interest is disposed of free from such
restriction, no person shall have the right of enforcing the
covenant against the person to whom the land or interest is
disposed of or his successors in title, but if at any time after
such disposition any person who, but for this section, would have
had a right to enforce the covenant, establishes such right, there
shall be paid to him compensation to be determined in manner
provided by the Lands Clauses Act as modified by the principal Act
and the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919,
with respect to interests in lands which have been omitted to be
purchased, and upon payment of such compensation the right shall, as
against him and all persons deriving title through him, be
absolutely discharged:

Provided that, in assessing the compensation, the official arbitrator
shall take into consideration any compensation which may have been
paid or be payable in respect of the covenant under section four
of the principal Act. Any compensation payable under the foregoing
provisions shall be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament, but
the sum to be expended in respect thereof shall not exceed fifty
thousand pounds.

DEFENCE OF THE REALM (ACQUISITION OF LAND) ACT 1920 - SECT 2
Provisions as to rights of pre-emption.

2.(1) The right of pre-emption conferred by section five of the
principal Act on any person other than a person entitled to the
lands from which the land proposed to be sold was originally
severed shall cease to have effect....

(2) Where the land from which land acquired under the principal Act
was severed is settled land within the meaning of the Settled Land
Acts, 1882 to 1890, the tenant for life, or person having the
powers of a tenant for life under those Acts with respect to that
land, shall, for the purposes of section five of the principal Act
and this section, be deemed to be, and always to have been, the
person entitled to the settled land.

(3) The person by whom the right of pre-emption conferred by the
said section five as amended by this section is or would for the
time being be exerciseable in respect of any land if a Government
department were offering that land for sale shall have power at any
time to release that right so as to discharge in perpetuity the
land or any part thereof to which the release relates, from all
such right of pre-emption.

DEFENCE OF THE REALM (ACQUISITION OF LAND) ACT 1920 - SECT 3
Provision as to acquisition and possession of land under the
principal Act.

3.(1) It is hereby declared that

Para.(a) rep. by SLR 1927

(b)the expressions "Government department in possession" and "occupying
department", where used in the principal Act and this Act mean, and
shall be deemed always to have meant, the Government department for
the time being in possession of land, notwithstanding that the
department so in possession is not the department by which or on
whose behalf possession was originally taken, but is in possession
by virtue of a transfer from the said department or from some
other department to which possession has subsequently been
transferred:

(c)where the occupying department has created or purported to create
any tenancy or other interest in the land of which it is in
possession in favour of some other person, or has allowed any other
person to use or occupy that land, the occupying department shall,
for the purposes of the principal Act and this Act, be deemed to
have continued in possession of the land, notwithstanding the
interest therein of, or the use or occupation thereof by, such
other person:

(d)the possession by an occupying department shall be deemed not to
have been affected or prejudiced by reason of the land or any part
thereof at any time ceasing or having ceased to be used for the
purpose for which possession thereof was originally taken, or
otherwise being or having been used for any other purpose:

Para.(e) rep. by SLR 1953

(2) A Government department in possession of land under a lease or
tenancy granted or created prior to the commencement of the present
war shall have the like power of removing any building or other
work which, for purposes connected with the present war, has been
erected or constructed on, over, or under that land wholly or
partly at the expense of the State as is conferred by section two
of the principal Act on an occupying department, and this power
shall be exerciseable notwithstanding any provision of the lease or
tenancy under which the land is held....

DEFENCE OF THE REALM (ACQUISITION OF LAND) ACT 1920 - SECT 4
Consent under section six of the principal Act.

4.Subs.(1) (as to consent under s.6 of 1916 c.63) rep. by SLR 1927

(2) If any person considers that the consent of a local authority
under the said proviso to subsection (1) of section six has been
unreasonably withheld, he may appeal to the Minister of Transport
whose decision shall be final and shall have effect as if it were
a decision of the authority:

Provided that the Minister may, before considering any such appeal,
require the appellant to deposit such sum, not exceeding ten pounds,
to cover the costs of appeal as may be fixed by rules to be made
by him.

S.5 rep. by SLR 1927

DEFENCE OF THE REALM (ACQUISITION OF LAND) ACT 1920 - SECT 6
Easements.

6. For the purposes of sections... three, ten, and thirteen of the
principal Act and for the purposes of this Act, the exercise or
enjoyment of any easement or right over or in relation to land
shall be deemed to be possession of that easement or right.

S.7 rep. by SLR 1927

DEFENCE OF THE REALM (ACQUISITION OF LAND) ACT 1920 - SECT 8
Short title and construction.

8. This Act may be cited as the Defence of the Realm (Acquisition
of Land) Act, 1920, and shall be construed as one with the
principal Act, and that Act and this Act may be cited together as
the Defence of the Realm (Acquisition of Land) Acts, 1916 and 1920.


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URL: http://www.bailii.org/nie/legis/num_act/dotrola1920321.txt