Page 895 - Week 03 - Thursday, 14 March 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
The regulations will require the Minister to determine the added value of a lease as a result of the proposed lease clause change applied for under section 11A of the Act. Added value will be described in the regulations as the amount by which the unimproved value of the lease, with the clause changed, would exceed the unimproved value based on the existing clause on the date on which the Supreme Court makes a provisional order.
Under the Bill, the betterment charge payable will be the added value less any remission applicable to the particular lease. The remission is based on the age of the lease and whether it was granted at full charge, as a concessional lease or as a grant free of charge. Rates of remission will be set out in the schedule to the regulations.
The Bill and regulations will combine to give full effect to the new policy on betterment charges. The Bill amends subsection 11A(1) of the Act to provide that the Supreme Court may, upon application by the lessee, amend any provision of a lease. The removal of the limitation of this section to variation of lease purpose clauses allows leases to be varied by judicial process in the same way that they will ultimately be amended by administrative process under the proposed land administration Bill.
The City Area Leases (Amendment) Bill also provides, in a manner consistent with the policy change announced on 14 December 1990, for restrictions on dealings in respect of concessional leases. A new section 11D is to be inserted into the City Area Leases Act to require that a concessional lease may not be transferred or assigned without the consent of the Minister.
Under the new section 11D, consent to such a transaction will be given if the Minister is satisfied that the applicant lessee has paid a premium. That premium is calculated by determining the market value of the lease, on the assumption that the transaction is approved, and subtracting an allowance for any capital sum paid to the Treasury in respect of the original grant of the lease or where, since the grant of the lease, the rental liability has been paid out.
The Bill provides for notice of the determinations of market value and of the premium payable to be given to the lessee. The exemption to the above requirement is that a lease granted for community purposes may be transferred to a community organisation similar to the lessee upon payment of the determined fee. The Bill makes clear provision for review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of amounts determined for the purpose of calculating betterment charges, or premium payable, in terms similar to the existing section 11B of the City Area Leases Act.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .