F REHOUSING FORMER AGRICULTURAL WORKERS

11.75 It would clearly be contrary to the needs of efficient agricultural production if farm cottages needed to house essential workers were rendered indefinitely unavailable to an agricultural employer.

11.76 The availability of suitable alternative accommodation will be of particular importance to agricultural employers, enabling them to use the appropriate statutory ground for possession¹⁸⁰ to secure the relocation of former employees into alternative accommodation – and in the process freeing formerly tied accommodation for re-letting to essential workers. The availability of suitable alternative accommodation is a discretionary ground for possession in the case of an assured agricultural occupancy, and ‘suitability’ is assessed in the same manner as for other (ie non-agricultural) assured tenancies.¹⁸¹ The availability of alternative accommodation also furnishes one of the principal grounds for possession under the 1976 Act.¹⁸² The security of tenure of an ‘assured’ agricultural occupier under the 1988 Act is broadly similar to that of a protected agricultural occupier, as the ground for possession is a discretionary one in both cases. The court cannot make an order for possession unless it considers it ‘reasonable’ to do so,¹⁸³ and it has power to stay or suspend an order for possession or to postpone the date for possession for such a period as it thinks fit.¹⁸⁴ The reasonableness or otherwise of making an order for possession is a question of fact for the trial judge, taking into account all the relevant circumstances and evidence.¹⁸⁵

11.77 The agricultural occupancy provisions differ markedly from the regime applicable to other residential lettings, in that they enable an estate owner who is himself unable to provide accommodation to make an application to the public housing authorities, and to compel them to consider making accommodation available.

11.78 Section 27 of the 1976 Act enables a landlord to apply to the relevant housing authority on the ground that vacant possession is, or will be, needed of a dwelling house which is subject to either a protected or assured occupancy, in order to house a person who is, or is to be, employed by the landlord in agriculture. The landlord must establish that he is himself unable to provide, by any reasonable means, suitable alternative accommodation, and that its provision by the authority would be ‘in the interests of efficient agriculture’. This is the key concept on which the rehousing provisions are based. In assessing the merits of the application, and in particular the requirements of ‘efficient agriculture’, the authority can obtain advice from the Agricultural Dwelling-House Advisory Committee (‘ADHAC’) for the area concerned. The ADHACs are constituted specifically for this purpose.¹⁸⁷ The committee must tender its advice in writing, making copies available to both landlord and tenant.¹⁸⁸ Although its ruling is advisory only, and not binding on the authority, it can be quashed by certiorari if insufficient or inadequate reasons are given. The ADHAC’s rulings are influential and are invariably followed by housing authorities, and can therefore lead directly to a later decision adverse to the parties’ rights. For this reason they can be subjected to judicial review.¹⁸⁹

11.79 If the housing authority is satisfied that the landlord’s case is made out, it has a statutory duty to use its ‘best endeavors’ to provide suitable alternative accommodation.¹⁹⁰ When assessing the priority of the landlord’s claim on its resources, the authority must give account to the urgency of the case, the competing claims on the accommodation which they can provide and the resources at their disposal. They must, moreover, treat an ex-employee as an applicant in a special category, and not simply by reference to a ‘priority needs category’ established under the Housing Act 1985.¹⁹¹

11.80 The rehousing provisions of the 1976 Act also apply to assured agricultural occupancies.¹⁹² Coupled with the wider grounds for possession applicable to assured tenancies, this will further enhance the landlord’s ability to repossess dwellings for reletting to agricultural employees, where the tenancy or license of a farm cottage was granted on or after 15 January 1989.