814 



Allotments : Compulsory Hiring. [Dec. 



fchan 35 years. The amount of the rent will be fixed in default 

 of agreement by an arbitrator, who is required to take into 

 consideration the rent (if any) at which the land has been 

 let, the annual value at which it is assessed for income tax or 

 rating, the loss (if any) caused to the owner by severance, 

 and the terms and conditions of the hiring, hut he may not make 

 any allowance in respect of any use to which the land might 

 otherwise he put hy the owner during the term of hiring, heing 

 a use in respect of which the oivner is entitled to resume posses- 

 sion — i.e., huilding, mining or other industrial purposes, or for 

 roads necessary therefor. {See paragraph (4) of Part 2 of the 

 First Schedule to the Act of 1908 and Section 46 of that Act.) 



The compulsory hiring provisions of the Acts enable a Council 

 therefore to obtain a tenancy of land which can be renewed by 

 the Council without the owner's consent, at a fair rent fixed 

 without regard to any immediate or prospective value which 

 the land may possess for building, mining or other industrial 

 purposes, but subject to the landlord's right of resumption if he 

 satisfies the ^linistry that he requires the land for such pur- 

 poses. The Act of 1908 as amended by the Act of 1919 enables 

 the notice of resumption to be such as is prescribed by the 

 Hiring Order, but so as not to require a longer notice than 

 twelve months. 



The IMinistry understands that in some cases Councils have 

 hesitated to use their compulsory hiring powers on the ground 

 of expense. The expenses incidental to the compulsory 

 acquisition by hiring need not be considerable, and when the 

 land is acquired all such expenses can, if so desired, be borrowed 

 by the Council and can be recouped during the period of the 

 lease by a very small increase of the allotment rents. Councils 

 have been urged, therefore, to take immediate steps to hire 

 land, if necessary compulsorily, to satisfy the requirements of 

 applicants where an unsatisfied demand exists. 



The ^Ministry regards the encouragement of the allotment 

 movement as a matter of the most urgent national importance, 

 not only from the point of view of the maintenance, and possibly 

 the increase, of food production, but also on account of the 

 social and economic advantages of the movement. Allotments 

 provide healthy and profitable occupation, create a spirit of 

 co-operation and goodwill, and do much to allay industrial 

 unrest and disturbance. 



