General Rate Act 1967

• " office purposes " includes the purposes of administration, clerical work and handling money; and " clerical work " includes writing, book-keeping, sorting papers, filing, typing, duplicating, punching cards or tapes, machine calculating, drawing and the editorial preparation of matter for publication ;

• " operational land ", in relation to any body, means land which is used for the purpose of the carrying on of the body's undertaking, not being land which, in respect of its nature and situation, is comparable rather with land in general than with land which is used for the purpose of the carrying on of statutory undertakings within the meaning of the Town and Country Planning Act 1962;

• " road transport " includes transport by light railway or tramway, if the light railway or tramway is laid wholly or mainly along a public highway and is used wholly or mainly for the carriage of passengers.

• (9) There shall have effect for the purposes of this section and Part I of Schedule 5 to this Act the supplementary provisions contained in Part II of that Schedule.

Gas authorities.

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• (1) Subject to subsection (2) and without prejudice to subsections (3) and (5) of this section, no premises—

• (a) occupied by a Gas Board ; or

• (b) occupied by the Gas Council exclusively for purposes connected with the powers conferred on that Council by the Gas Act 1965,

shall be liable to be rated or be included in any valuation list or in any rate.

• (2) The foregoing subsection shall not apply—

• (a) to premises used as a dwelling ; or

• (b) to premises occupied by a Gas Board wholly or mainly for the purposes of an undertaking for the supply of water; or

• (c) to a shop, room or other place occupied and used by a Gas Board or the Gas Council wholly or mainly for the sale, display or demonstration of apparatus or accessories for use by consumers of gas (any use for the receipt of payments for gas consumed being disregarded) ; or

• (d) subject and without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 13 of Schedule 6 to this Act, to office premises occupied by a Gas Board or the Gas Council which are not situated on operational land of that Board or Council.

• (3) For the purpose of the making and levying of a rate for any rating area for any rate period, if, in the case of any Gas Board, any gas was in the penultimate year—

• (a) either—

• (i) supplied to consumers in that rating area ; or

• (ii) manufactured in that rating area,

by that Board or, in that Board's area, by the Gas Council; or

• (b) produced in that rating area by that Board or, in that Board's area, by the Gas Council by the application, to gas purchased by that Board or, as the case may be, Council, of any process not consisting only of purification, or of blending with other gases, or of both purification and such blending.

that Board shall be treated as occupying in that rating area during that rate period a hereditament of a rateable value calculated in accordance with the provisions of Part I of Schedule 6 to this Act.

• (4) The hereditament which a Gas Board are to be treated as occupying in a rating area by virtue of subsection (3) of this section shall be taken not to be situated in any part of that area in which there are leviable, as an additional item of the rate, expenses which are not leviable in the area taken as a whole.

• (5) If the Minister is of opinion that payments by way of rates should be made by Gas Boards by virtue of this subsection by reference to any premises occupied and used by the Gas Council or a Gas Board for the reception or liquefaction of gas or the evaporation of gas in a liquid state, being in any case gas purchased by the Council or the Board, he may, subject to paragraph 14 of Schedule 6 to this Act, make an order designating the premises for the purposes of this subsection and providing for the determination, by such method as may be specified by the order, of a value for the premises for those purposes ; and where such an order is in force the Minister may direct—

• (a) that the value determined as aforesaid shall be apportioned among such Gas Boards as may be specified by the direction in such proportions as may be so specified; and

• (b) that each Board specified by the direction shall, during such period as may be so specified, be treated for rating purposes as occupying within the rating area in which the premises designated by the order are situated (and whether or not that Board occupy or are treated as occupying any other hereditament in that area) a hereditament of a rateable value equal to the proportion of the value aforesaid allocated by the direction to that Board; and

• (c) that paragraph 5 of Schedule 6 to this Act shall have effect during the period aforesaid in relation to each Board specified by the direction as if the Board's adjusted basic total of rateable values mentioned in that paragraph were reduced by an amount equal to the said proportion;

and any direction under this subsection may be revoked or varied by a subsequent direction thereunder.

• (6) Subject to paragraph 14 of Schedule 6 to this Act, the Minister may by order provide that, in such of the provisions of this section, the said Schedule 6 or any other enactment relating to rating as may be specified in the order, any reference to the manufacture of gas shall include a reference to such dealings with gas as may be specified by the order.

• (7) There shall have effect for the purposes of this section and Part I of Schedule 6 to this Act the supplementary provisions contained in Part II of that Schedule; and for the purposes of this section and the said Schedule 6—

• (a) the expression " Gas Board " means an Area Board within the meaning of the Gas Act 1948 ;

• (b) the expression " gas " includes gas in a liquid state ; and, without prejudice to the provisions of any order under subsection (6) of this section, the following operations, that is to say—

• (i) the liquefaction of gas ; and

• (ii) the evaporation of gas in a liquid state,

shall not of themselves be taken to constitute the manufacture of gas or the application of a process to gas;

• (c) the expression " penultimate year ", in relation to a rate period or to a year, means the last but one year before that rate period or year ;

• (d) the expressions " office premises " and " operational land " have the meanings respectively assigned by section 32(8) of this Act.

Electricity boards.

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• (1) Subject to subsection (2) and without prejudice to subsection (3) of this section, no premises which are, or form part of, premises occupied by an Electricity Board shall be liable to be rated or be included in any valuation list or in any rate.

• (2) The foregoing subsection shall not apply—

• (a) to premises used as a dwelling; or

• (b) to a shop, room or other place occupied and used by an Electricity Board wholly or mainly for the sale, display or demonstration of apparatus or accessories for use by consumers of electricity (any use for the receipt of payments for electricity consumed being disregarded); or

• (c) subject and without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 15 of Schedule 7 to this Act, to office premises occupied by an Electricity Board which are not situated on operational land of that Board.

• (3) For the purposes of the making and levying of any rate—

• (a) the Generating Board shall be treated as occupying in each rating area, and

• (b) each Area Board shall be treated as occupying in each rating area which is wholly or partly within the area of that Board,

a hereditament of a rateable value calculated in accordance with the provisions of Part I of Schedule 7 to this Act.

• (4) The hereditament which an Electricity Board are to be treated as occupying in a rating area by virtue of subsection (3) of this section shall be taken not to be situated in any part of that area in which there are leviable, as an additional item of the rate, expenses which are not leviable in the area taken as a whole.

• (5) There shall have effect for the purposes of this section and Part I of Schedule 7 to this Act the supplementary provisions contained in Part II of that Schedule ; and in this section and the said Schedule 7—

• (a) the expression " Area Board " means a Board constituted under the Electricity Act 1947 :

• (b) the expression " Electricity Board " means an Area Board or the Generating Board and, in subsections (1) and (2) of this section, includes the South of Scotland Electricity Board;

• (c) the expression " the Generating Board " means the Central Electricity Generating Board ;

• (d) the expressions " office premises " and " operational land " have the meanings respectively assigned by section 32(8) of this Act.

Mining, quarrying, dock, rediffusion, etc., undertakings.

35

• (1) The Minister may by order make provision for determining the rateable value of hereditaments to which this section applies, or any class or description of such hereditaments specified in the order, by such method as may be so specified.

• (2) This section applies to—

• (a) any hereditament occupied by the National Coal Board ;

• (b) any other hereditament which consists of or includes a mine or quarry or the whole or part of which is occupied together with a mine or quarry in connection with its working, or the treatment, preparation, storage or removal of its minerals or products of its minerals or the removal of its refuse ;

• (c) any hereditament occupied by the persons carrying on, under authority conferred by or under any enactment, a dock or harbour undertaking; and

• (d) any hereditament occupied by the persons carrying on an undertaking for the diffusion by wire of sound or television programmes;

and any reference in paragraph (b) of this subsection to a mine or quarry includes a reference to a well or bore-hole or a well and bore-hole combined, but except as aforesaid expressions used in that paragraph and the Mines and Quarries Act 1954 have the same meanings in that paragraph as in that Act.

• (3) Any order under this section applying to any hereditament falling within any paragraph of subsection (2) of this section, or any class or description of such hereditaments, may provide for determining rateable value by the application of different methods of valuation to different parts of the hereditament.

• (4) Before making any order under this section the Minister shall consult with such associations of local authorities or of persons carrying on undertakings as appear to him to be concerned and with any local authority or person carrying on an undertaking with whom consultation appears to him to be desirable.

• (5) In the year following the coming into force of the second valuation lists for the purposes of which any order under this section has or has had effect the Minister shall, in consultation with such associations, local authorities and persons as aforesaid, cause investigations to be made into the effect of the operation of the order; and the Minister shall cause to be laid before Parliament a report on any investigations made under this subsection and their result. ;

• (6) An order under this section may repeal or amend any enactment so far as that enactment relates to the valuation of hereditaments to which the order relates, may as regards such hereditaments apply, restrict or modify the provisions of this Act relating to proposals for alterations of valuation lists and to appeals in connection with such lists and to the withholding of rates where proposals are pending, and shall have effect notwithstanding anything in any of those provisions.

• (7) No order under this section shall have effect unless approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

Tin, lead and copper mines.

36

• (1) Unless and until other provision has been made by an order under section 35 of this Act, the provisions of this section shall have effect with respect to the rating of any tin, lead or copper mine.

• (2) Where the mine is occupied under a lease or leases granted without fine on a reservation wholly or partly of dues or rent, the rateable value of the mine for the purposes of any rate period shall, subject to subsection (3) of this section, be taken to be the aggregate of—

• (a) the annual amount of the whole of the dues payable in respect of the mine during the year ending with 31st December falling between three and fifteen months before the beginning of that rate period ; and

• (b) the annual amount of any fixed rent reserved for the mine which may not be paid or satisfied by such dues;

and the valuation officer may estimate the annual amount referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection for the purposes of the preparation of a new valuation list falling to be signed before the end of the year referred to in that paragraph.

• (3) Where, in the case of a mine falling within subsection (2) of this section, the person receiving the dues or rent is liable for repairs, insurance, or other expenses necessary to maintain the mine in a state to command the annual amount of dues or rent, the rateable value of the mine shall be the aggregate referred to in the said subsection (2) less the average annual cost of the repairs, insurance, and other expenses for which that person is so liable.

• (4) In the case of—

• (a) a mine occupied under a lease granted wholly or partly on a fine; or

• (b) a mine occupied and worked by the owner ; or

• (c) a mine which does not fall within subsection (2) of this section or within paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection but which, by virtue of section 16 (a) of this Act, is rateable,

the rateable value of the mine shall be taken to be the annual amount of the dues or dues and rent at which the mine might be reasonably expected to let without fine on a lease of the ordinary duration, according to the usage of the country, if the tenant undertook to pay all tenant's rates and taxes and also the repairs, insurance, and other expenses necessary to maintain the mine in a state to command that annual amount of dues or dues and rent.

• (5) The purser, secretary, and chief managing agent for the time being of the mine, or any of them, may, if the rating authority think fit, be rated as the occupier of the mine.

• (6) In this section, the following expressions have the following meanings respectively, that is to say—

• " dues " means dues, royalty, or toll, either in money or partly in money and partly in kind; and the amount of dues which are reserved in kind means the value of those dues;

• " fine " means fine, premium, or foregift, or other payment or consideration in the nature thereof;

• " lease " means lease or sett, or licence to work, or agreement for a lease or sett or licence to work;

• " mine ", in the case of a mine occupied under a lease, includes the underground workings, and the engines, machinery, workshops, tramways, and other plant, buildings (other than dwellings), and works and surface of land occupied in connection with and for the purposes of the mine, and situate within the boundaries of the land comprised in the lease or leases under which the dues or dues and rent are payable or reserved.

Premises used for public purposes

Hereditaments occupied by or on behalf of Crown.

37

• (1) Where any hereditament is occupied by or on behalf f the Crown for public purposes—

• (a) gross value shall be determined or entered in the valuation list in respect of the hereditament; and

• (b) if any contribution is made by the Crown in aid of rates in respect of the hereditament, there shall be entered in the valuation list as representing its rateable value the value upon which that contribution is computed ; and, subject to subsection (2) of this section, the value so entered, or the amount of the contribution, as the case may be, shall be taken into account for the purpose of ascertaining totals or the proceeds of any rate, but the entry shall not affect any question as to contributions to be made by the Crown in respect of rates.

• (2) Where such a contribution as aforesaid is made for the year beginning with the date of the coming into force of a new valuation list for the rating area in which the hereditament is situated (in this subsection referred to as " the first year of the new list ")—

• (a) if the contribution is subsequently revised before the end of the year next following the first year of the new list, the amount to be taken into account for the purpose of ascertaining the proceeds of any rate for the first year of the new list shall be the amount of the contribution as revised, notwithstanding that the revision is made after the end of the last-mentioned year;

• (b) if, in the case of a contribution in respect of a hereditament which was occupied by or on behalf of the Crown for public purposes at the time when the new valuation list came into force, the contribution as originally made, or as subsequently revised as mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection, is computed on a value which differs from (the value shown in the list when it came into force, then, subject to paragraphs (c) and (d) of this subsection, the value on which the contribution is so computed shall, for the purpose of ascertaining totals, be deemed to have been shown in the list, as representing the rateable value of the hereditament, as from the time when the list came into force, instead of the value actually shown in the list at that time ;

• (c) if, in a case falling within paragraph (b) of this subsection, the difference between the values mentioned in that paragraph is wholly attributable to a structural alteration or other event which has taken place since the time when the new list came into force, that paragraph shall not apply ;

• (d) if, by reason of one or more structural alterations or other events which have taken place since the new list came into force, the contribution as originally made, or as subsequently revised, is computed on two or more different values, then—

• (i) any of those values which is referable to a period subsequent to such an alteration or event shall be disregarded for the purpose of ascertaining totals for the first year of the new list; and

• (ii) the value referable to the period before the alteration or event (or the earliest of them, if more than one) shall for that purpose be deemed to have been shown in the new list, as representing the rateable value of the hereditament, as from the time when the list came into force, instead of the value actually shown in the list at that time,

but nothing in paragraph (c) or (d) of this subsection shall affect the ascertainment of totals for any year subsequent to the first year of the new list.

Contributions in aid of rates in respect of court buildings, police stations, etc.

38

• (1) Any authority to whom this section applies may make contributions in aid of rates in respect of any hereditament provided and maintained by the authority for purposes connected with the administration of justice, police purposes or other Crown purposes, not being a hereditament in respect of which rates are payable, and any expenses incurred under this section in relation to any hereditament shall be treated as expenses incurred in maintaining the hereditament.

• (2) Where a contribution is made under this section in respect of a hereditament, the value upon which that contribution is computed shall be entered in the valuation list as representing the rateable value of the hereditament; and the value so entered, or the amount of the contribution, as the case may be, shall be taken into account for the purposes of ascertaining totals or the proceeds of any rate for that rating area.

• (3) The last foregoing subsection shall not be construed as requiring a gross value to be determined or entered in the valuation list in the case of a hereditament in respect of which a contribution is made under this section.

• (4) The authorities to whom this section applies are the Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District, the councils of counties, the Greater London Council, the councils of London boroughs, boroughs with a separate commission of the peace or boroughs having a separate court of quarter sessions, the Common Council of the City of London, police authorities and probation committees, and references in this section to an authority to whom this section applies include references to two or more such authorities acting jointly and to joint committees of two or more such authorities.

Miscellaneous exemptions and reliefs

Relief for places of religious worship.

39

• (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, and without prejudice to any exemption from, or privilege in respect of, rates under any enactment other than this section, no hereditament to which this section applies shall, in the case of any rating area, be liable to be rated for any rate period.

• (2) This section applies to the following hereditaments, that is to say—

• (a) places of public religious worship which belong to the Church of England or to the Church in Wales (within the meaning of the Welsh Church Act 1914), or which are for the time being certified as required by law as places of religious worship ; and

• (b) any church hall, chapel hall or similar building used in connection with any such place of public religious worship, and so used for the purposes of the organisation responsible for the conduct of public religious worship in that place,

and also applies to any hereditament consisting of such a place of public religious worship as is mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection together with one or more church halls, chapel halls or other buildings such as are mentioned in paragraph (b) thereof.

• (3) Where a hereditament to which this section applies, or any part of such a hereditament, is or has been let (whether by way of a tenancy or of a licence) for use otherwise than as a place of public religious worship, or, as the case may be, for use otherwise than as mentioned in subsection (2) (b) of this section—

• (a) the hereditament shall not be exempted by virtue of subsection (1) of this section from being rated for any rate period if any payment in consideration of such a letting of the hereditament or part thereof accrued due in the last year before the beginning of that rate period; but

• (b) no gross value for rating purposes shall be ascribed to the hereditament unless the average annual amount of the payments accruing due, as consideration for such lettings of the hereditament or parts thereof, exceeds the average annual amount of the expenses attributable to those lettings ; and

• (c) if such a gross value falls to be ascribed to the hereditament, by reason that the average annual amount of those payments exceeds the average annual amount of those expenses, the gross value shall be assessed by reference only to the amount of the excess.

Relief for charitable and other organisations.

40

• (1) If notice in writing is given to the rating authority

• (a) any hereditament occupied by, or by trustees for, a charity and wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes (whether of that charity or of that and other charities); or

• (b) any other hereditament, being a hereditament held upon trust for use as an almshouse,

is one falling within this subsection, then, subject to the provisions of this section, the amount of any rates chargeable in respect of the hereditament for any period during which the hereditament is one falling within either paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of this subsection, being a period beginning not earlier than the rate period in which the notice is given, shall not exceed one-half of the amount which would be chargeable apart from the provisions of this subsection:

Provided that where a hereditament ceases to be one falling within the said paragraphs (a) and (b), a previous notice given for the purposes of this subsection shall not have effect as respects any subsequent period during which the hereditament falls within either of those paragraphs.

• (2) No relief under the foregoing subsection shall be given in the case of a hereditament falling within paragraph (a) thereof for any period during which the hereditament is occupied by an institution specified in Schedule 8 to this Act.

• (3) The Minister may by order amend the provisions of Schedule 8 to this Act by adding any institution which in his opinion ought to be classified with the institutions mentioned in that Schedule or omitting any institution or altering the description of any institution.

• (4) An order under subsection (3) of this section may be made so as to have effect from any date not earlier than the beginning of the rate period in which it is made, and shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

• (5) Without prejudice to the powers conferred by section 53 of this Act, a rating authority shall have power to reduce or remit the payment of rates chargeable in respect of—

• (a) any hereditament falling within subsection (1)(a) or (b) of this section;

• (b) any other hereditament which is occupied for the purposes of one or more institutions or other organisations which are not established or conducted for profit and whose main objects are charitable or are otherwise philanthropic or religious or concerned with education, social welfare, science, literature or the fine arts ;

• (c) any other hereditament which is occupied for the purposes of a club, society or other organisation not established or conducted for profit and is wholly or mainly used for purposes of recreation,

for any such period as is mentioned in subsection (6) of this section:

Provided that any such reduction or remission shall cease to have effect on a change in the occupation of the hereditament in respect of which it was granted.

• (6) Any reduction or remission of rates determined under subsection (5) of this section may at the discretion of the rating authority be granted—

• (a) for the year in which, or the year next following that in which, the determination to grant it is made; or

• (b) for a specified term of years, not exceeding five, beginning not earlier than the year in which the determination was made nor more than twenty-four months after the date of the determination ; or

• (c) for an indefinite period beginning not earlier than the last-mentioned year subject, however, to the exercise by the rating authority of their powers under subsection (7) of this section.

• (7) Where any such reduction or remission is granted for an indefinite period the rating authority may, by not less than twelve months' notice in writing given to the occupiers of the hereditament, terminate or modify the reduction or remission as from the end of a year specified in the notice.

• (8) The foregoing provisions of this section shall not apply to any hereditament to which section 39 of this Act applies or to any hereditament ocoupied (otherwise than as trustee) by any authority having, within the meaning of the Local Loans Act 1875, power to levy a rate.

• (9) In this section " charity " means an institution or other organisation established for charitable purposes only, and " organisation " includes any persons administering a trust; and a hereditament an interest in which belongs to a charity or any ecclesiastical corporation and in which (in right of that interest)—

• (a) the persons from time to time holding any full-time office as clergyman or minister of any religious denomination, or

• (b) any particular person holding such an office,

have or has a residence from which to perform the duties of the office, or in which (in right of the said interest) accommodation is being held available to provide such a residence for such a person, shall be treated for the purposes of this section as occupied by a charity and wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes, whether or not it would be so treated apart from this provision.

• (10) The Minister may, on the application of any rating authority appearing to him to be concerned, by order repeal or amend any local enactment which confers an exemption from or abatement of, or a power to reduce or remit a payment of, rates in respect of any particular hereditament or of hereditaments of any class if it appears to him that a right to relief arises in respect of that hereditament or hereditaments of that class under subsection (1), or that a reduction or remission may be granted in respect thereof under subsection (5), of this section, and may by that order make such other amendments of any other local enactments as appear to him to be necessary in consequence of the repeal or amendment and such transitional provision as appears to him to be necessary or expedient in connection with the matter; and in this subsection, the expression " local enactment " means a provision of any local and personal Act or private Act or of any order or other instrument in the nature of any such Act.

Exemption for certain property of Trinity House.

41

The following property belonging to, or occupied by, the Trinity House (but, notwithstanding anything in section 731 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894, no other property so belonging or occupied) shall be exempt from rates, that is to say, lighthouses, buoys and beacons, and any property within the same curtilage as, and occupied for the purposes of, a lighthouse.

Exemption of sewers, etc.

42

No sewer, as defined by section 343 of the Public Health Act 1936, and no manhole, ventilating shaft, pumping station, pump or other accessory belonging to such a sewer, shall be liable to be rated or be included in any valuation list or in any rate.

Exemption of property of drainage authorities.

43

• (1) The following premises, namely—

• (a) any land which is occupied by a river authority or other drainage authority and forms part of a main river for the purposes of Part II of the Land Drainage Act 1930 or of a watercourse maintained by the authority; and

• (b) any structure or appliance maintained by a drainage authority, being a structure or appliance for controlling or regulating the flow of water in, into or out of a watercourse which forms part of a main river for the purposes of the said Part II or is maintained by the authority,

shall not be liable to be rated or be included in any valuation list or in any rate:

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall confer any exemption in respect of any right of fishing or shooting which under section 29 of this Act (apart from this subsection) constitutes a separate hereditament for rating purposes.

• (2) In this section, the expressions " drainage authority " and " watercourse " have the same meanings respectively as in the Land Drainage Act 1930.

Exemption of parks, etc.

44

• (1) A park which has been provided by, or is under the management of, a local authority and is for the time being available for free and unrestricted use by members of the public shall, while so available, be treated for rating purposes as if it had been dedicated in perpetuity for such use.

• (2) In this section—

• (a) references to a park include references to a recreation or pleasure ground, a public walk, an open space within the meaning of the Open Spaces Act 1906, and a playing field provided under the Physical Training and Recreation Act 1937;

• (b) the expression " local authority " means the council of a county, county borough, London borough, county district or borough included in a rural district, a parish council or parish meeting, the Greater London Council, the Common Council of the City of London or the Council of the Isles of Scilly, or any two or more of them acting in combination.

Relief in respect of facilities for disabled persons.

45

In ascertaining for the purposes of section 19 of this Act the gross value of a hereditament, no account shall be taken—

• (a) of any struoture belonging to the Minister of Health and supplied by that Minister or, before 31st August 1953, by the Minister of Pensions for the accommodation of an invalid chair or of any other vehicle (whether mechanically propelled or not) constructed or adapted for use by invalids or disabled persons; or

• (b) of any structure belonging to a local health authority or to a voluntary organisation formed for any of the purposes mentioned in section 28(1) of the National Health Service Act 1946 (which relates to the prevention of, and to the care and after-care of persons suffering from, illness) and supplied for the use of any person in pursuance of arrangements made under the said section 28(1); or

• (c) of any structure belonging to a local authority within the meaning of section 29 of the National Assistance Act 1948 (which relates to welfare arrangements for blind, deaf, dumb and other handicapped persons) or to such a voluntary organisation as is mentioned in section 30 of that Act and supplied for the use of any person in pursuance of arrangements made under the said section 29 ; or

• (d) of any structure which is of a kind similar to structures such as are referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of this section but does not fall within that paragraph by reason that it is owned or has been supplied otherwise than as mentioned in that paragraph.

Relief for air-raid protection works.

46

• (1) In ascertaining the value for rating purposes of any hereditament, no regard shall be had—

• (a) to any room or other part of the hereditament which has been added at any time after the hereditament was first assessed, or was included in the hereditament before it was first assessed, solely for the purpose of affording protection in the event of hostile attack from the air, and which is not occupied or used for any other purpose;

• (b) to any structural alterations or improvements to the hereditament (not being the addition of any such room or other part as aforesaid) made, at any time after the hereditament was first assessed, solely for the purpose of affording such protection as aforesaid;

• (c) to any increase in the rent of the hereditament which is attributable to the provision for persons living or working in the hereditament of protection, otherwise than by warlike means or by any article of apparel, from hostile attack from the air ;

and, in relation to a hereditament forming part of a building, paragraph (b) of this subsection shall have effect as if any structural alterations or improvements made in the building or on land appurtenant to the building for the purpose of providing such protection as is mentioned in paragraph (c) of this subsection were structural alterations or improvements to the hereditament.

• (2) No person shall, in respect of any period, be liable to pay rates in respect of a hereditament which is intended to be occupied or used solely for the purpose of affording protection in the event of hostile attack from the air and which is not occupied or used for any other purpose, or be deemed to be in occupation thereof for rating purposes, and notwithstanding anything in this Act no such hereditament shall be included in any rate made in respect of any period.

Temporary relief for certain hereditaments previously exempt.

47

Where an exemption from liability for rates in respect of a hereditament subsisted immediately before 1st April 1963 by virtue of the Scientific Societies Act 1843, section 64 of the Education Act 1944, or section 731 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894, and would at all times since that date have continued to subsist but for the repeal of the said Act of 1843 or the said section 64 or but for section 12(3) of the Rating and Valuation Act 1961 or section 41 of this Act, as the case may be, then as respects any period during the year 1967-68 as respects which that exemption would have so continued to subsist the amount of rates payable in respect of the hereditament shall, without prejudice to any reduction or remission under section 40(5) of this Act, be four-fifths of the amount which would be payable apart from the provisions of this section and the said section 40(5).

Special reliefs in respect of dwellings

Reduction of rates on dwellings by reference to domestic element of rate support grants.

48

• (1) Every rating authority shall reduce the amount which, : apart from this subsection, would be the amount of the rate levied by the authority for any year on any dwelling-house or mixed hereditament in their area by the following amount in the pound, that is to say—

• (a) in the case of a dwelling-house, the amount prescribed for that year in pursuance of paragraph 1 of Part III of Schedule 1 to the Local Government Act 1966; and

• (b) in the case of a mixed hereditament, one-half (disregarding any halfpenny) of the amount so prescribed.

• (2) Where the period for which a rate is made is less than a year, the amount in the pound of the reduction to be made under subsection (1) of this section shall be such as the rating authority may determine; but the authority shall so exercise their power under this subsection as to secure that the aggregate of the amounts determined in pursuance of this subsection for any year in respect of dwelling-houses and mixed hereditaments respectively is equal to the amount mentioned in paragraph (a) or, as the case may be, paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section.

• (3) Where a hereditament is a dwelling-house or a mixed hereditament during part only of a rate period, the reduction to be made in pursuance of the foregoing provisions of this section shall be made for that part of the period only.

• (4) The Minister may by regulations provide that the fore going provisions of this section and Part III of Schedule 1 to the said Act of 1966 shall have effect in their application to the City of London subject to such modifications as the Minister considers appropriate for securing that reductions under those provisions are apportioned between the general rate and the poor rate, for securing that payments in respect of the domestic element of rate support grants are treated as the proceeds of those rates in such proportions as may be determined in pur suance of the regulations, and for making such supplementary provision in relation to the City as the Minister considers expedient.

• (5) In this section, the expression " mixed hereditament " means a hereditament which is not a dwelling-house but in the case of which it appears to the rating authority or is determined in pursuance of subsection (6) of this section that the proportion of the rateable value of the hereditament attributable to the part of the hereditament used for the purposes of a private dwelling or private dwellings is greater than the proportion thereof attributable to the part used for other purposes (any part of the hereditament used for the letting of rooms singly for residential purposes, whether by way of a tenancy or licence and either with or without board or other services or facilities, or used as sites for movable dwellings within the meaning of section 269 of the Public Health Act 1936 being treated as used for purposes other than those of a private dwelling or private dwellings).

• (6) The Minister may by regulations provide for the determination as respects any hereditament of any question as to the proportions mentioned in subsection (5) of this section in any case where the occupier or person treated for the purposes of the regulations as the occupier of the hereditament is dissatisfied by the refusal of the rating authority to treat the hereditament as a mixed hereditament for the purposes of this section, or the occupier, the person aforesaid or the rating authority consider that by reason of a change of circumstances a previous determination made in respect of the hereditament by virtue of this subsection should cease to have effect; and without prejudice to the generality of the power to make regulations conferred by the foregoing provisions of this subsection, the regulations may include provision—

• (a) applying for the purposes of a determination any of the provisions of Part V of this Act, with such modifications, if any, as may be specified by the regulations ;

• (b) for a determination to have effect with respect to such period, whether or not beginning before the time when an application for the determination was made, as may be provided by or under the regulations.

Right to rebate in respect of rates on dwelling.

49

• (1) Any person to whom this section applies who makes application therefor in accordance with the provisions of this section shall, subject to subsections (2) and (7) of this section and to section 16(2) of the Ministry of Social Security Act 1966, be entitled in respect of any period of six months beginning with 1st April or 1st October in any year (hereafter in this Act referred to as a " rebate period ") to a rate rebate of such amount, if any, as represents—

• (a) two-thirds of the amount by which the applicant's reckonable rates determined in accordance with Part I of Schedule 9 to this Act exceeds £3 15s., less

• (b) five shillings for every complete pound by which the applicant's reckonable income determined in accordance with Part II of that Schedule exceeds the appropriate limit so determined.

• (2) The amount which under subsection (1) of this section would otherwise fall to be afforded by way of rebate shall be reduced—

• (a) if—

• (i) the applicant did not become entitled to make the rebate application until after the beginning of the rebate period to which it relates ; and

• (ii) the application is made more than one month after the date on which he became entitled to make it,

by a sum bearing the same proportion to that amount as the period between that date and the making of the application bears to the period between that date and the end of the rebate period ;

• (b) if in any other case the application is made more than one month after the beginning of the rebate period to which it relates, by a sum bearing the same proportion to that amount as the part of that rebate period falling before the date of the making of the application bears to the whole of that rebate period:

Provided that the rating authority may in any particular case determine that the amount aforesaid shall not be reduced under this subsection, or shall be reduced by a lesser sum than that provided for by this subsection, if they are satisfied that it is reasonable and proper so to do having regard to the reason for the application being made after the expiration of the month referred to in paragraph (a)(ii) or, as the case may be, paragraph (b) of this subsection, and to any difference between the amount aforesaid and what that amount would have been if the application had been made immediately before the expiration of that month.

• (3) This section applies to the following persons, namely—

• (a) a person who is the occupier of, and resides or is usually resident in, a hereditament which is a dwelling-house ;

• (b) a person who is the occupier of, and resides or is usually resident in, a hereditament which, though not a dwelling-house, is within the meaning of section 115(3) of this Act used mainly for the purposes of a private dwelling or private dwellings ;

• (c) a person who, not being the occupier of such a hereditament as is mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection, is the tenant of, and resides or is usually resident in, a part of any such hereditament in respect of which he makes payments to the occupier by way of rent.

• (4) A rebate application shall be made in writing to the rating authority not earlier than two months before the beginning, and not later than the end, of the rebate period to which it relates; and the Minister may by regulations require any such application to contain such particulars as may be prescribed by the regulations.

• (5) Subject to subsection (7) of this section, it shall be the duty of the rating authority to consider any application made to them under this section and, if satisfied that the application has been duly made by a person qualified to make it, the authority shall grant the rebate, if any, to which the applicant is entitled under this section; and any rebate granted shall be afforded in accordance with Part III of Schedule 9 to this Act.

• (6) Where the rating authority have granted any person a rebate in respect of the rebate period beginning with 1st April in any year and have no reason to believe that there has been, or is likely by 1st August in that year to be, any material change in that person's circumstances which is relevant to the calculation of any rebate in respect of the next succeeding rebate period, they may not later than 31st July in that year notify that person in writing that, unless a rebate application in respect of the rebate period beginning with 1st October in that year is received by them from that person before that date, they propose to grant him a rebate in respect of that rebate period calculated on the assumption that there has been no change in his relevant circumstances; and if no such application is so received before 1st October, the authority may grant the rebate accordingly and that person shall not be entitled to make a rebate application in respect of that rebate period on or after that date.

• (7) Where two or more persons are joint occupiers of a hereditament such as is mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b), or joint tenants of such a part thereof as is mentioned in paragraph (c), of subsection (3) of this section, then for the purposes of rebates under this section each of those persons shall be treated separately as if he were the sole occupier of the hereditament or, as the case may be, sole tenant of that part thereof, except that where a husband and wife are such joint occupiers or tenants a rebate may be granted to either but not to both of them.

• (8) Any person who, with intent to obtain a rebate under this section—

• (a) furnishes any information which he knows to be false in a material particular ; or

• (b) withholds any material information,

shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both.

• (9) Without prejudice to any other right to recover the amount of any relief by way of rebate under this section which has been wrongly afforded, where any person convicted of an offence under subsection (8) of this section has as a result of that offence been afforded such relief to which he was not entitled, the amount of that relief may be recovered by the rating authority summarily as a civil debt; and proceedings for that purpose may, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any Act, be brought at any time within twelve months from the time when that relief was afforded or, where the proceedings are for the recovery of a consecutive series of amounts by way of such relief, within twelve months from the date on which the last amount of the series was afforded.

• (10) Subject to section 10(1) of the Rating Act 1966, the amount of any rebates granted under this section in respect of any year shall be treated as loss on collection for that year within the meaning of the Rate-product Rules 1959 or the Rate-product (County Boroughs) Rules 1959, as the case may require.

• (11) This section shall not apply to the Temples.

Right to pay rates on dwelling by instalments.

50

• (1) Without prejudice to section 3(4) of this Act or any other power of a rating authority to make provision for the payment of rates by instalments, any person who (not being a tenant or licensee of the rating authority who pays his rates as part of his rent) is the occupier of, and resides or is usually resident in, a hereditament which—

• (a) either is a dwelling-house or, though not a dwelling house, is within the meaning of section 115(3) of this Act used mainly for the purposes of a private dwelling or private dwellings ; and

• (b) is not the subject of arrangements made by virtue of section 55 or 56 of this Act or any local Act whereby the payment of rates thereon is made by or through the owner,

may by notice in writing to the rating authority given in accordance with paragraph 1 of Schedule 10 to this Act elect to pay any rates in respect of that hereditament by instalments in accordance with the said Schedule 10; and, as from the date which under the said paragraph 1 is the effective date of that notice until in pursuance of section 51(2) of this Act or of paragraph 6 of the said Schedule 10 that notice ceases to be in force, any rates in respect of the rate period in which that date falls or any subsequent rate period which are charged on that person in respect of that hereditament shall be payable by instalments accordingly.

• (2) Where in the case of any hereditament such as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section—

• (a) the persons who reside or are usually resident therein consist wholly or mainly of persons who are beneficiaries of a charity (that is to say, of any body of persons or trust which appears to the Minister to be established wholly or mainly for charitable purposes); and

• (b) the rates thereon are paid by that charity either as occupier of the hereditament or in pursuance of arrangements made between the charity and the persons who reside or are usually resident in the hereditament,

the Minister may direct that that hereditament shall be treated for the purposes of the said subsection (1) as if the charity were both the occupier of, and residing in, that hereditament.

• (3) Without prejudice to paragraph (b)(ii) of the proviso to section 54(1) of this Act, no allowance by way of discount shall be made by virtue of any provision for like purposes to those of the said section 54(1) contained in any local Act on any amount payable by way of an instalment under this section.

• (4) This section shall not extend to the Temples.

Discount in respect of rates on dwelling-house.

51

• (1) The rating authority may, if they think fit, by resolution direct that an allowance by way of discount of such amount not exceeding two-and-a-half per cent. as may be specified in the resolution shall be granted to any person entitled to give a notice under section 50(1) of this Act in respect of a hereditament which is a dwelling-house, whether or not he has in fact given such a notice, who pays the net amount due by way of rates on that hereditament either—

• (a) otherwise than by instalments ; or

• (b) by instalments required in pursuance of section 3(4) of this Act,

before such date or respective dates as the rating authority may specify.

• (2) If an allowance under this section is made in respect of a hereditament in respect of which a notice under the said section 50(1) is for the time being in force, that notice shall thereupon cease to be in force and rates on that hereditament shall cease to be payable in accordance with Schedule 10 to this Act, without prejudice, however, to the right to give a fresh notice under the said section 50(1) in accordance with paragraph 1(a) of that Schedule.

• (3) The rating authority may at any time revoke or vary a resolution under this section.

• (4) While any resolution under this section is in force, a statement of the effect thereof shall be included in or sent with every demand note on which rates are levied in respect of any hereditament which is a dwelling-house.

• (5) Subject to paragraph (a) of the proviso to section 54(1) of this Act and to subsection (6) of this section, nothing in this section shall prejudice the powers with respect to allowances by way of discount conferred by section 54 of this Act or any provision for like purposes contained in any local Act.

• (6) A person who is for the time being entitled to an allowance under this section in respect of any hereditament shall not be entitled to an allowance in respect of that hereditament under any such provision of a local Act as is mentioned in subsection (5) of this section.

• (7) This section shall not apply to the Temples.

Temporary power to reduce rateable value of dwellinghouses, etc.

52

• (1) For the purposes of the valuation lists in force at the commencement of this Act, the Minister may by order provide that the provisions of Schedule 11 to this Act shall have effect.

• (2) An order under this section shall not have effect unless approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

General remissions, reductions and allowances

Reduction or remission of rate.

53

A rating authority shall have power to reduce or remit the payment of any rate on account of the poverty of any person liable to pay it.

Uniform discount in respect of rates on all hereditaments.

54

• (1) The rating authority may, if they think fit, by resolution direct that an allowance by way of discount not exceeding two and a half per cent. shall be made on the amount due in respect of any rate from every person who pays the net amount due before such date as the rating authority may specify:

Provided that—

• (a) a person shall not be entitled to the allowance in respect of any hereditament in respect of which he is for the time being entitled to an allowance under section 51 of this Act; and

• (b) the allowance shall not be made—

• (i) where the person paying the rate is an owner who is entitled to any of the allowances for which provision is made by section 55 or 56 of this Act or

• (ii) on any amount payable by way of an instalment under section 50 of this Act; and

• (c) the allowance shall be made at the same rate to all persons entitled to it.

• (2) The rating authority may at any time revoke or vary a resolution under this section.

• (3) While any resolution under this section is in force, there shall be included in every demand note on which the general rate is levied a statement of the effect of the resolution.

• (4) This section shall not apply to the City of London.

PART IV — Bearing of rates by persons other than occupier

Rating of owners instead of occupiers.

55

• (1) Any rating authority may by resolution direct that, in the case of all hereditaments in their area which belong to a class to be defined in the resolution by reference to rateable value and also, if rent is paid and the rating authority so decide, by reference to the interval at which rent from time to time becomes payable or is collected, the owners thereof shall be rated instead of the occupiers :

Provided that the class shall not be so defined as to include any hereditaments the rateable value of which exceeds fifty-six pounds or such other limit as may for the time being be fixed by an order under subsection (5) of this section.

• (2) Where a rating authority give any such direction as aforesaid, the owners of any hereditaments in that authority's rating area to which the direction applies shall, in the case of any rate made while the resolution is in force, be rated accordingly, and the rating authority shall make to any owner who being so rated pays the amount due from him in respect of the rate before the expiration of half the period in respect of which the rate was made (or, if the rate is payable by instalments, half the period in which the instalment is payable), or before such later date or dates as may be specified in the resolution, an allowance equal to ten per cent. of the amount payable.

• (3) A resolution of the rating authority rescinding a previous resolution under subsection (1) of this section shall take effect only on the expiration of a rate period.

• (4) Any owner who under subsection (2) of this section pays any rate which, as between the owner and the occupier, the occupier is liable to pay shall be entitled to be reimbursed by the occupier the amount so paid.

• (5) The Minister may by order substitute a different limit for that specified in the proviso to subsection (1) of this section ; but any such order shall not affect any person's liability for rates for any period before the coming into force of the first new valuation list to come into force after the date of the order.

• (6) Any order under subsection (5) of this section shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

• (7) In the application of this section to the Temples, for any reference to a resolution of the rating authority there shall be substituted a reference to an order of the rating authority.

Payment or collection of rates by owners by agreement.

56

• (1) The owner of any hereditament the rent of which ; becomes payable or is collected at intervals shorter than quarterly may by agreement in writing with the rating authority undertake either—

• (a) that he will pay the rates chargeable in respect of the hereditament whether it is occupied or not; or

• (b) that he will so long as the hereditament is occupied pay the rates chargeable in respect of it; or

• (c) that he will on behalf of the authority collect the rates due from the occupier of the hereditament;

and the authority may agree, where the owner so undertakes and pays over to the authority on or before the date or dates specified in the agreement the amounts payable by him thereunder, to make him an allowance not exceeding in the case of an undertaking under paragraph (a) of this subsection ten per cent., in the case of an undertaking under paragraph (b) thereof seven and a half per cent., or in the case of an undertaking under paragraph (c) thereof five per cent.

• (2) An allowance made under subsection (1) of this section in respect of any hereditament to an owner who is rated under section 55 of this Act shall be in substitution for any allowance to which he might otherwise have been entitled in respect of that hereditament under the said section 55.

• (3) An agreement entered into under this section shall con tinue in force until determined by notice given either by the rating authority to the owner or by the owner to the rating authority, and in the event of a change in the ownership of any hereditament while the agreement is in force shall continue to be binding upon the new owner as if it had been made by him.

• (4) A notice for the purposes of subsection (3) of this section shall take effect only on the expiration of a rate period and shall be given before the commencement of that period.

• (5) In the case of an undertaking by an owner under sub section (1)(c) of this section, the amount due from the owner shall be taken to be an amount which bears to the total amount of the rates due the same proportion as the aggregate amount actually collected by him in respect of rent and rates bears to the aggregate amount due in respect thereof.

• (6) In the case of an undertaking by an owner under subsection (1)(c) of this section, unless the undertaking expressly so provides—

• (a) the expression " rates due " in the provisions of this section relating to such an undertaking shall not include rates accruing due before the date on which the undertaking comes into operation; and

• (b) account shall not be taken for the purposes of subsection (5) of this section of rent which accrues due before that date.

• (7) Section 177 of the City of London Sewers Act 1848 shall not apply to any hereditament in the City of London so long as an undertaking in respect of that hereditament is in force under subsection (1)(a) of this section.

Provisions supplementary to ss.55 and 56.

57

• (1) Where in the case of any hereditament the owner is rated in respect thereof in pursuance of section 55 of this Act, or has undertaken in pursuance of section 56 of this Act to pay or collect the rates charged in respect thereof, the amount due from him in respect of those rates shall be recoverable by the rating authority from him, or, where the rates are collected by an agent of his, either from him or from that agent, in like manner and subject to the like conditions as rates payable by the occupier of a hereditament (not being an occupier by whom a notice under section 50(1) of this Act has been given and is for the time being in force) are recoverable from the occupier.

• (2) Every owner who is rated under the said section 55 instead of the occupier, or who enters into an agreement with the rating authority under the said section 56, in respect of any hereditaments shall, without prejudice to the rights of the occupier of any of those hereditaments, be treated in relation to any right of appeal against a rate under section 7 of this Act as standing in the same position as the occupier.

• (3) Every owner who is rated under the said section 55 instead of the occupier or who enters into an agreement with a rating authority under the said section 56 shall from time to time on demand deliver to the rating authority—

• (a) a list of the occupiers of the hereditaments in respect of which he is so rated or has so agreed ; and

• (b) such particulars with respect to the periods for which any of those hereditaments have been unoccupied and with respect to the amount which he has failed to collect from the occupiers as the authority may require for the purpose of enabling them to determine what amount is properly due from the owner under the said section 55 or 56;

and if any such owner refuses or neglects to comply with the provisions of this subsection, or knowingly delivers to any authority particulars which are untrue in any material respect, he shall in respect of each offence be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five pounds and, in the case of refusal or neglect to deliver particulars, to a further penalty not exceeding one pound for each day during which the offence continues after conviction therefor.

• (4) Subject to subsection (5) of this section, the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act shall have effect in substitution for any provisions contained in any local Act with respect to the rating of owners instead of occupiers.

• (5) Where in the case of any rating area a resolution of the rating authority made under Schedule 2 to the Rating and Valuation Act 1928 was in force immediately before the date of commencement of this Act whereby any provisions contained in any local Act with respect to the rating of owners instead of occupiers applied to any rates made by the authority, then, until that resolution is rescinded—

• (a) those provisions shall continue so to apply and, if and so far as they may have been repealed by, or by any order made under, the Rating and Valuation Act 1925, shall have effect as if re-enacted in this Act; and

• (b) all resolutions, agreements and notices in force under those provisions immediately before the said date shall continue to have effect until they are rescinded or modified.

Deduction of rates from rent by lessees for short terms.

58

Where a hereditament is let to the occupier for a term not exceeding three months—

• (a) the occupier shall be entitled to deduct any amount paid by him in respect of rates upon that hereditament s from the rent due or accruing due to the owner, and every such payment shall be a valid discharge of the rent to the extent of the rates so paid ;

• (b) the occupier shall not be compelled to pay to the rating authority at any one time or within any four weeks a greater amount by way of rates than would be due for one quarter of the year.

Deduction from rent of rates omitted to be paid by owner.

59

Where an owner who has undertaken, whether by agreement with the occupier or with the rating authority, to pay rates, or has otherwise become liable to pay rates, omits or neglects to pay any rate, the occupier may pay that rate and deduct the amount of the payment from the rent due or accruing due to the owner, and the receipt for the rate shall be a valid discharge of the rent to the extent of the rate so paid.

Owner's liability for rates where occupier entitled to diplomatic immunity.

60

• (1) Without prejudice to the operation of any other provision of this Act, where—

• (a) any hereditament in a rating area in Greater London is occupied upon terms which provide that the owner shall pay the rate charged on that hereditament; and

• (b) the occupier of the hereditament would in any proceedings against him by the rating authority to enforce payment of the rate be entitled to claim diplomatic immunity,

the owner shall be liable to pay to the rating authority an amount equal to so much of any payment in respect of rent received by him from the occupier as represents the proportion of rate included in that payment, and that amount may be recovered from the owner in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as rates recovered from the occupiers of rated hereditaments.

• (2) In this section—

• (a) the expression " diplomatic immunity " means immunity from suit and legal process which is accorded by law to an envoy or other public minister of a foreign sovereign power accredited to Her Majesty, or to the family or official or domestic staff of such an envoy or minister or to the families of any such staff, and includes any like immunities and any exemption or relief from rates which is conferred on any person or organisation by or under the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964;

• (b) the expression " owner " in relation to a hereditament includes any person who receives any rent of the hereditament whether on his own account or as agent or trustee for another person.

Recovery of rates from tenants and lodgers.

61

• (1) Where the rates due from the person rated for any hereditament are in arrear, it shall be lawful for the rating authority to serve upon any person paying rent in respect of that hereditament, or any part thereof, to the person from whom the arrears are due a notice stating the amount of those arrears of rates and requiring all future payments of rent (whether already accrued due or not) by the person paying the rent to be made direct to the rating authority until those arrears shall have been duly paid ; and that notice shall, subject to subsection (2) of this section, operate to transfer to the rating authority the right to recover, receive and give a discharge for that rent.

• (2) The right of the rating authority to recover, receive and give a discharge for any rent by virtue of subsection (1) of this section shall be postponed to any right in respect of that rent which may at any time be vested in a superior landlord by virtue of a notice under section 6 of the Law of Distress Amendment Act 1908.

• (3) In this section, the expression " rent " includes a payment made by a lodger.

Recovery of rates unpaid by owner.

62

Notwithstanding that the owner of a hereditament has become liable for payment of the rates assessed thereon, the goods and chattels of the occupier shall be liable to be distrained and sold under Part VI of this Act for payment of such rates as may accrue during his occupation of the hereditament at any time while those rates remain unpaid by the owner, except that—

• (a) no such distress shall be levied unless the rate has been demanded in writing by the rating authority from the occupier and the occupier has failed to pay it within fourteen days of the service of that demand;

• (b) no greater sum shall be raised by the distress than shall at the time of making the distress be actually due from the occupier for rent of the premises on which the distress is made;

• (c) the occupier shall be entitled to deduct the amount of rates for which the distress is made, and the expenses of the distress, from the rent due or accruing due to the owner, and every such payment shall be a valid discharge of the rent to the extent of the rates and expenses paid.

Deduction from rent etc. of rates by certain tenants of mines.

63

Any lessee, licensee, or grantee of a mine rateable by virtue of section 16W) of this Act whose lease, licence or grant was granted or made before 6th April 1875 may, unless before that date he had specifically contracted to pay any rates in respect of the mine in the event of the abolition of his exemption from being so rated, deduct from any rent, royalty, or dues payable by him during the continuance of his lease, licence or grant, or before the arrival of the period at which the amount of the rent, royalty or dues is liable to revision or readjustment, whichever is the less of the following, that is to say—

• (a) one half of any rates paid by him in respect of the mine; or

• (b) one half of what those rates would have been if calculated upon the rent, royalty or dues so payable by him.

Deduction from rent of rate in respect of land used as plantation, etc.

64

Where the rateable value of any land is increased by reason of its being estimated in accordance with section 27(2) or (4) of this Act, the occupier of that land under any lease or agreement made before 6th April 1875 may, during the continuance of the lease or agreement, deduct from his rent any amount paid by him by way of rates in respect of that increase ; and the valuation officer, on the application of the occupier, shall certify in the valuation list or otherwise the fact and amount of that increase.

Deduction from rent in respect of rate for rights of sporting.

65

In a case to which section 29(1) of this Act applies, if the rateable value of any land is increased by reason of its being estimated in accordance with the said section 29(1), but not otherwise, the occupier of the land may, unless he has specifically contracted to pay the rates in the event of such an increase, deduct from his rent such portion of any rate as is paid by him in respect of the increase; and the valuation officer, on the application of the occupier, shall certify in the valuation list or otherwise the fact and amount of the increase.

General provision as to deduction of rates from rent, etc.

66

Where any person is authorised by section 63, 64 or 65 of this Act to deduct any rate or sum in respect of a rate from any rent, royalty, or dues payable by him, then—