APPENDICES.

APPENDIX I.

Instructions for effecting Exchanges and Partitions of Land, and Divisions of Intermixed Lands, under the Inclosure Acts.

(Issued by the Board of Agriculture.)

1. The Board of Agriculture are empowered by various. Acts to effect exchanges and partitions of land, and divisions of intermixed lands in England and Wales.

The exchange powers in these Acts are to enable land- Object of owners, whether limited or absolute owners, to avoid the exchange necessity and expense of investigating the titles of the lands powers. exchanged; the leading principles being that the lands exchanged shall be of equal value, and that the land received in exchange shall be held under the same title, and subject to the same uses, trusts, and liabilities as was the land given in exchange. Upon the confirmation of an order of exchange, therefore, the land received becomes clothed with the title and subject to all the liabilities of the land given up, with certain exceptions referred to below, paragraph 18.

2. The partition powers are to enable the Board, on the Partition application of the persons owning not less than two-thirds of powers. the interests, to divide lands held in undivided shares amongst the several owners in proportion to their interests.

persons

intermixed lands.

3. The powers relating to the division of intermixed lands Division of are to enable the Board, on the application of all the separately interested, to divide or apportion lands, which are so intermixed or divided into inconvenient parcels that they cannot be cultivated or occupied to the best advantage, into convenient parcels amongst the several owners.

4. A combined exchange and partition may be effected Combined where persons own the entirety of some of the land, and un- exchange and divided shares in other land or subject matter of exchange. partition.

5. An exchange, partition, or division of intermixed lands Informal exagreed to be made but not legally completed, may, where changes may the parties are in possession under the agreement, be legally be legalised. completed.

What can be

exchanged or partitioned.

Mines and minerals,

rights of way, and easements may be reserved.

Exchange of copyhold lands.

Exchange of glebe lands.

Who can apply for an exchange.

6. For the purposes of the Acts the word "land" includes incorporeal as well as corporeal hereditaments, and any undivided share thereof. The Acts authorise the exchange or partition of freehold land, of copyhold or customary land, of glebe land, of undivided shares in land, of cattle gates, of land held by the same person under different titles, and also of rights of common, rights of fishing, manorial and other rights, and all easements over land, quit-rents, chief rents, heriots, tithes, and rent-charges; and where land has been allotted under any Inclosure Act or award for any public or parochial purpose, but is no longer convenient or suitable for the purpose for which the allotment was set out, it may be exchanged for other land which is more convenient and suitable for the purpose. Crown lands, and lands belonging to railway and other companies, may also be exchanged.

7. Mines and minerals, and also rights of way and other easements, may be reserved.

8. The consent of the lord of the manor is necessary to the exchange of copyhold and customary land. On the exchange of copyhold or customary land for freehold land the copyhold land becomes freehold, and the freehold land copyhold, without any new admittance; and copyhold lands may, with the consent of the lord of the manor, be declared freehold. The steward of the manor may signify that the lord has consented.

9. The consent of the bishop of the diocese and of the patron of the living are necessary to the exchange of glebe land.

10. As a general rule the persons who can make application for an exchange are those who are in actual possession or receipt of the rents and profits of the lands.

But this rule is subject to the following exceptions:-
(i.) Lessees for lives or years at a rent of two-thirds the
clear yearly value or upwards, or lessees for a
term not originally exceeding 14 years, or tenants
from year to year or at will cannot apply: but the
persons entitled in reversion immediately expectant
are the persons to apply; and in such cases there
will be no shifting over of the interests of the
tenants or lessees, who will occupy the same lands
after the exchange as before.

(ii.) Where land is held on lease for lives, or for a term
of years originally exceeding 14, at a rent of less
than two-thirds the clear yearly value, the appli-
cation must be made by the lessee and lessor
jointly, the effect of the exchange being in such
cases to shift over both the leasehold interest and
the reversionary interest from the lands given up

to the lands received. Where, however, land has
been leased for a term originally exceeding 100
years, and no rent or acknowledgment has been
paid or given for 20 years, or the reversioner is
unknown, the owner of such lease can alone apply
for an exchange.

(iii.) Where a person is in possession or receipt under
any sequestration, extent, elegit or other writ of
execution, or as receiver under an order of the
High Court of Justice, then such person, jointly
with the person who otherwise would be in posses-
sion or receipt, are the persons to apply.

(iv.) Where the person interested is an infant, lunatic,
idiot, or married woman, or under any other legal
disability, or beyond the seas, the guardian, trus-
tee, committee of the estate, husband, or attorney
is the person to apply; but in the case of property
belonging to a married woman, the practice is to
require the consent of both husband and wife.
Where, however, a married woman is to be deemed
a feme sole within the Married Women's Property
Act, 1882, as regards lands belonging to her pro-
posed to be exchanged, she is not under the dis-
ability of coverture as regards such lands, but may
herself alone apply.

11. The same provisions apply generally to applicants for Who can partition and division, but in a partition lessees need not join apply for and cannot dissent; and where the lands are held under one entire rent, such rent is to be apportioned.

partition or division.

12. Printed forms of application may be obtained from the The applicaoffice of the Board of Agriculture, No. 3, St. James's Square, tion. London, and in all cases the application should be submitted in draft to the Board prior to its execution by the persons interested, together with the plan and valuation. It should not be executed until approved by the Board and all necessary amendments have been made.

When the lands to be exchanged form part of an estate, it is desirable, for the purposes of identification from the advertisements, that the name of the estate should be given; for the same reason, in the exchange of cottages, gardens, or pieces of land not known by particular names, the occupiers' names should be stated.

When lands are in more than one parish, the lands of each parish must be kept distinct.

13. Every parcel held under a different title, or for a dif- Lands held ferent estate, or subject to separate charges, as well as the under differland for which such parcel is to be exchanged, must be sepa- ent titles.

rately entered in the application, and the respective values of each must in the valuation be shown to be equal. Particular attention is called to this requisition, which is of great importance to the exchanging parties, with reference to future dealings with the land, since, as the titles and incumbrances are shifted by operation of the exchange from the lands given up to those received, unless the lands held under different titles, or subject to separate incumbrances, and the equivalent for them, be kept distinct, a landowner might after an exchange find himself possessed of land to which several titles attached, without being able to distinguish the lands held under each. The subdivision may be made thus in the schedule of the application:

1 0 0 Tenant for Freehold In exchange for Blackacre, 1 0 30 Fee simple Freehold. life.

PART 1. Whiteacre

A. R. P.

PART 2.

Longlands 2 0 0 Fee simple Freehold In exchange for Hopley

PART 2.

14. The leading principle of an exchange being that the lands on each side shall be of equal value, it is necessary that they should be valued by a competent valuer.

The name and residence of the valuer proposed to be employed should be submitted to the Board for approval before the valuation is undertaken. The valuer selected must be competent and trustworthy, and not the agent of or connected with either of the parties exchanging, and if he has not acted in a similar capacity in any previous exchange, it will save time if, when submitting his name, the names and addresses be also given of two gentlemen who are competent to testify to his trustworthiness and ability as a valuer.

There is no objection to a joint valuation made by two valuers acting for the two parties, where the applicants so desire.

In exchanges of glebe for other lands it would probably facilitate the obtaining the consent of the bishop if his approval were given to the selection of the valuer.

15. The Board do not issue a form of valuation, but the valuation should be written on separate paper the same size

as the printed form of application, and, subject to circumstances, as in the case of building land, it must show:

(i) The annual rentable value of each separate field or other hereditament.

(ii) The fee simple value of the property.

(iii) The number of years' purchase by which such fee simple value is arrived at.

(iv) The nature of the soil and buildings thereon, and state of repair.

(v) The value of the timber, if there be any.

(vi) The outgoings, if any :-see paragraphs 17 and 18.
(vii) The objects of the exchange, and the particular circum-
stances which render it desirable.

(viii) A certificate to the following effect must also be
added:-

I hereby certify that I am not the agent of or connected with either of the parties to this exchange; and having personally examined on the ground, and valued the lands and hereditaments proposed to be exchanged, I further certify that the map correctly represents the present state of the lands, and that after the best inquiry I can make, I believe the applicants to be respectively in possession or receipt of the rents and profits of the same, and that the proposed exchange is just and reasonable, and will be mutually beneficial to the parties interested.

[This certificate must be signed by the valuer who actually made the valuation, and not by the firm of which he may be a member.]

16. In the event of the number of years' purchase or the Reasons for value per acre of any portion of the lands differing from that variations in of any other portions, or from the number of years' purchase value. usually adopted in the district in estimating the value of similar property, the reasons for such deviation must be given; and if the land possesses any special or accommodation value to the estate to which it will be attached, the particulars should be stated.

17. The valuer should ascertain the several charges and Outgoings. outgoings, such as tithe rentcharge, land tax, chief rents, &c., and should specify them in the valuation; and he should also expressly state whether the calculations have been made subject to such charges being paid by the owner or the occupier.

In valuing tithe rentcharge as a deduction, it should not exceed twenty-five years' purchase, which is the rate fixed by the Tithe Acts for compulsory redemption.

When the lands dealt with, or any of them, are not charged

E.

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