546 Official Circulars and Notices. [oct., 



the home farm of a mansion house, or which is otherwise required for the amenity or 

 convenience of a dwelling-house, and no land which has been acquired by a local 

 authority or statutory corporation or company for a public undertaking, can be 

 compulsorily acquired. In addition, the Council should not lose sight of the fact that 

 they must, so far as practicable, avoid taking an undue or inconvenient quantity of 

 land from any one owner or tenant, and that if it is proposed to acquire part only of 

 a holding, a claim for compensation for severance may arise, which will have the 

 effect of increasing the price or rent to be paid for the portion taken. 



Having decided upon the land to be acquired, the Council must prepare an Order 

 in the form prescribed by the Board, advertise it in the local press, and give notice to 

 the Board and to each owner, lessee and occupier of the land proposed to be 

 acquired. Objections, if any, to the Order must be sent to the Board within a month 

 from the receipt of the notice. If no objections are received, the Board will then 

 confirm the Order forthwith ; but if notice has been given of objections, the Board 

 will order a local inquiry, at which the Council and all persons interested in the land 

 may appear and be heard. The Board, after considering the report of the person 

 holding the inquiry, will then decide whether the Order should be confirmed or not* 

 and whether with or without modifications. When confirmed, the Order becomes, 

 valid, and has the effect of an Act of Parliament. 



The Order having been made, the amount of compensation to the various parties 

 interested in the land remains to be settled. If no agreement can be arrived at as to- 

 the amount of compensation, the sum will be settled, in the case of purchase, by a 

 single arbitrator, and in the case of hiring, by a valuer, appointed in either case by 

 the Board. 



The possession of land which has been hired compulsorily may be resumed by the 

 landlord on twelve months' notice if he can prove to the satisfaction of the Board that 

 it is required to be used for building, mining or other industrial purposes ; and it is* 

 accordingly provided in the Act that the valuer, in assessing the rent to be paid by a 

 Council for land which is hired compulsorily, shall not take into account any prospective 

 value which might attach to the land if used for any purpose for which the landlord 

 can resume possession. The effect of this provision is that land which has a 

 prospective building value, but which is not yet ripe for that purpose, can in the 

 meantime be hired by a Council at an agricultural rent. 



Regulations as to the compulsory purchase and hiring of land, containing the 

 prescribed forms for compulsory Orders, have been issued by the Board, and can be 

 obtained either directly, or through any bookseller, from Messrs. Wyman and Sons,, 

 Limited, Fetter Lane, London, E.C., price id. per copy or post free \\d. 



Adaptation and Equipment. — When land has been acquired by a Council they 

 may adapt it for small holdings by dividing and fencing it, making roads, providing 

 water supply, drainage, &c, and they may, also, as part of the agreement for sale or 

 letting, erect houses and buildings, or adapt existing houses or buildings. Not more 

 than one house may be erected for occupation with any one holding. Money may be 

 borrowed for these purposes from the Public Works Loan Commissioners at 3^ per 

 per cent, for such term not exceeding fifty years, as may be sanctioned by the Local 

 Government Board. 



Sale or Letting of Small Holdings. — Land can only be let by a Council, except in 

 the case of land purchased by agreement, which may, if the Council think fit, be sold 

 on the terms referred to below. The rent of land which is let must be fixed at a sum. 

 to be sufficient to recoup the Council for the whole of their expenses in acquiring and 

 adapting the land, together with a sufficient margin to cover tithe, repairs, manage- 

 ment, and contingencies. Whether the sinking fund charges for the replacement of 

 principal must be included in the rents of. the holdings is a question upon which 

 opinions differ, and Councils are using their own discretion in the matter. As a 

 general rule it will be desirable that rates and taxes should be paid by the tenants, 

 themselves. 



