SECOND AND THIRD CLASS LAND MAY BE SELECTED AS HOMESTEAD LEASES. 



Homestead Leases. 



Under Part II. of "The Homesteads Act, 1893," leases of second or third 

 class land are granted, called homestead leases, but which are really another form 

 of conditional purchases. 



The area of a homestead lease shall not be less than 1,000 acres, or 

 more than 3,000 acres in second class land, nor less than 1,000 acres, nor more 

 than 5,000 acres in third class land. 



The lease is for a term of 30 years, dating from the ist January preceding the 

 date of application. 



The rent for third class lands is id. per acre per annum for the first 15 years 

 of the lease, and 2d. per acre per annum for the remaining period of 15 years, and 

 for second class lands 2d. and 3d. per acre per annum respectively. 



The conditions are as follows : The lessee shall pay one half the cost of 

 survey, in five yearly instalments ; within six months from the date of the approval 

 of his application, he shall take possession of the land either by himself or by an 

 agent, and for the next five years, for at least nine months in every year, reside 

 upon the land. 



Within two years from the 1st January or July, as the case may be, 

 preceding the date of the approval of his application, he shall fence in at least 

 half of the land, and within the next two years shall fence in the remainder. 



During every yearof his lease, from the sixth to the fifteenth year, both inclusive, 

 he is required to expend in improvements on the land comprised in his lease, if 

 second class land, an amount equal to 8d. per acre, and if third class land, an 

 amount equal to 5d. per acre for the whole area comprised in his lease. 



Any excess of moneys expended during one year shall be carried forward to 

 the credit of the sum required to be expended in the succeeding year or years. 



The following shall be deemed improvements : Sub-division, clearing, 

 cultivating, grubbing, draining, ringbarking, tanks, dams, wells, and any other 

 work upon the land which increases or improves its agricultural or pas' oral 

 capabilities. 



If the land is not surveyed, the conditions shall date from ;he date of survey, 

 instead of from the date of the lease. 



At the expiration of his lease, if all the conditions have been complied with, 

 the Crown grant of the land may be obtained on payment of the prescribed fee. 



If at any time during the continuance of the lease, on proof that he has paid 

 the prescribed rent and survey fees, and that he has complied with the conditions 

 of residence, and that he has fenced the land on the surveyed boundaries, and has 

 expended on prescribed improvements, in addition to the cost of such fencing, a 

 sum equal to the aggregate rents payable in respect of the lease for the last 25 

 years of the term, and that the improvements so made are in good order and con- 

 dition, and has paid to the Minister the difference between the aggregate amount 

 of rents then already paid in respect of the lease and the value of all the lands 

 comprised therein, calculated at the rate of 6s, 3d. per acre, if the land is second 

 class, and 3s. 9d. if third c'ass, the lessee shall, upon payment of the prescribed 

 fee, be entitled to a Crown grant of the land comprised in his lease. 



No transfer of a homestead lease shall be approved until the lease has been 

 in existence for five years. 



RENTS 



All land rents are calculated from ist January to 31*1 December, and are 

 payable in advance to the Collector of Land Revenue, Perth, or at the various 

 resident magistrates' offices throughout the colony, on or before the 1st March. 



The rent on leases and licenses applied for during the year shall be calculated 

 from the 1st day of the quarter preceding the application (except in the case of 

 poison leases and homoteacl leases, for which a full year's rent must always 

 be paid). 



In the event of the lessee not paying his rent on the ist day of March, he is 

 subject to a fine of 5 per cent, for the first month, 10 per cent, for the second, 15 



