LAND LAWS BILL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22709, 23 October 1935, Page 10

LAND LAWS BILL

AMENDING LEGISLATION REVALUATION PROVISIONS REVIVED (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, October 22. The revival of the revaluation provisions of the 1924 Land Act and its amendments is the most important section of the Land Laws Amendment Bill introduced in tlie House of Representatives to-night by the Minister of Lands, Sir Alfred Ransom. These were originally suspended by the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal Act, 1032-33, and by a subsequent amendment the suspension period was extended to July 1, 1936. It is now proposed to cancel the suspension period, allowing the revaluation provisions to become operative again. Applications will be dealt with by local committees and a central revaluation board in the same manner as before the suspension of the statutory provisions. A further amendment deals with deferred payment licences held on a 344year table, making it possible to grant new licences for a similar term and treating the unpaid balance of principal moneys as the purchase price under the new licences. It is also proposed to grant authority for the postponement pf the principal repayments under the licences held on the term for any period not exceeding seven years, the licences to be extended for the corresponding term. Interest only will be payable on the due dates during the period of postponement. The object is to provide authority to enable periodical instalments to be reduced in cases where licensees are finding it difficult to keep up their payments. The time during which the holders of leases-in-perpetuity of settlement land and the Cheviot estate land may exercise the right to acquire the freehold of their holdings expires on December 31 next, and provision is made in the Bill for an extension of this period to December 31, 1940. The Bill also provides for the granting of an extension not exceeding seven years of occupation with the right-of-purehase licences due to expire before January 1, 1941. The remainder of the Bill concerns machinery matters, amending the existing legislation.