Agriculture (Loans)
(Jersey) Regulations 1974[1]
PART 1
INTRODUCTORY
1 Interpretation
(1) In
these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires –
“agricultural
company” means a Company incorporated under the Companies (Jersey)
Law 1991 or the Lois (1861 à 1965) sur les
Sociétés a Responsabilité Limitée which is, or the
beneficial owners of which are, engaged, or if the application for a loan is
granted, will be engaged, wholly or mainly in work of an agricultural nature in
Jersey;
“Law” means
the Agriculture (Loans
and Guarantees) (Jersey) Law 1974.
(2) References
to the farming of agricultural land shall be construed as references to the
carrying on in relation to that land of any agricultural activity.
2 The
Fund
(1) The
Fund established for the purposes of these Regulations shall be under the
control and management of the Minister and, subject to paragraph (2),
shall consist of such monies as may from time to time be provided by the
States.[2]
(2) There
shall be paid –
(a) out
of the Fund –
(i) all monies paid
out as loans,
(ii) all
expenses incurred in carrying these Regulations into effect,
(iii) all
monies payable in respect of interest charged on the monies borrowed under paragraph (1)
and the repayment of the monies borrowed;
(b) into
the Fund –
(i) all monies paid
in or towards the repayment of loans and in payment of interest on loans,
(ii) all
other monies receivable under the Law or these Regulations.
(3) The
Minister shall make provision in the Minister’s estimates of revenue
expenditure for each year of such amount as represents the estimated deficit in
that year between the amount of money paid into the Fund in payment of interest
on loans, and the amount paid out of the Fund in respect of interest charged
against the Fund and administrative expenses.
(4) The
Minister shall, not later than 1st April in every year, present to the States a
report showing the financial position of the Fund at the close of the financial
year ending on 31st December next preceding the presentation of the report.[3]
3 Constitution
of the Board
(1) The
Board shall be constituted in the manner specified in paragraphs (2) to
(10).
(2) The Minister must
appoint –
(a) a
chair, a vice-chair and one other person who have all had experience and shown
skill in commerce or finance; and
(b) 2
other people who have had experience and shown skill in commerce, finance or
agriculture.[4]
(2A) Article 2
of the States of
Jersey (Appointment Procedures) (Jersey) Law 2018 shall apply to the
appointment of the chairman, vice-chairman and members of the Board.[5]
(3) Subject
to the provisions of paragraph (4), a person appointed to the Board shall
hold office for a period of 3 years beginning with the day on which he or she
was appointed, and a person so appointed may in like manner be re-appointed.
(4) A
person appointed to the Board shall cease to hold office if –
(a) he or
she tenders his or her resignation in writing to the Minister;
(b) he or
she becomes bankrupt;
(c) he or
she appoints a special attorney without whom he or she may not act in matters
real or personal; or
(d) under
Part 4 of the Capacity
and Self-Determination (Jersey) Law 2016, a delegate is appointed in
relation to that person.[6]
(5) If
a person appointed to the Board dies, or ceases to hold office under paragraph (4),
the Minister shall appoint to the vacancy a person qualified for appointment in
like manner as the person he or she replaces, and a person so appointed shall,
subject to that paragraph, hold office until the time at which the person whom he
or she replaces would have ceased to hold office under paragraph (3).
(6) The
Minister shall –
(a) defray
such expenses of the Board as may be approved;
(b) provide
a secretary, and such accommodation as may be necessary, for the purposes of
the Board.
(7) The
quorum of the Board shall be 3, including at least one person from among those
appointed under each of sub-paragraphs (2)(a) and (b).[7]
(8) The
chairman or, in the chairman’s absence, the vice-chairman shall preside
at meetings of the Board.[8]
(9) If
both the chairman and the vice-chairman are absent from a meeting of the Board,
the members present shall elect one of their number, being a member appointed
under paragraph (2)(a), to preside at the meeting.[9]
(10) At
a meeting of the Board, the person presiding shall have a second or casting
vote in any case where the votes of the members are equally divided.[10]
PART 2
LOANS
4 Power
to make loans
(1) Subject
to the provisions of these Regulations, the Minister may make loans to a bona
fide inhabitant of Jersey who is engaged, or, if the application for a loan is
granted, will be engaged, wholly or mainly in work of an agricultural nature in
Jersey for the purpose of assisting or enabling him or her to –
(a) purchase
agricultural land, to be occupied and farmed by him or her;
(b) construct
a dwelling-house or permanent farm buildings (including greenhouses), or
convert into a dwelling-house, or carry out improvements to, an existing farm
building on agricultural land occupied and farmed by him or her;
(c) purchase,
and install or use on agricultural land occupied and farmed by him or her,
agricultural machinery, vehicles and equipment;
(d) carry
out, on agricultural land occupied and farmed by him or her, improvements of a
kind which will contribute to the more efficient and economic farming of that
land;
(e) purchase
livestock;
(f) purchase
shares in an agricultural company which has a direct interest in agricultural
land occupied and farmed, or to be occupied and farmed, by him or her;
(g) purchase
flower bulbs, seed potatoes, or seed potato boxes (that is, boxes for the
storage of seed potatoes), to be used on agricultural land that he or she
already occupies and farms or is to occupy and farm, being land that is wholly
or partly land that he or she has purchased, or is to purchase, with the
assistance of a loan made under sub-paragraph (a) on or after the coming
into force of the Agriculture (Loans) (Amendment No. 11) (Jersey)
Regulations 1999,
or to repay a loan, other
than a bank loan made by way of fluctuating overdraft or a loan under the Agriculture
(Loans and Guarantees) (Jersey) Law 1968, made before the coming into
force of these Regulations for any of the purposes specified in sub-paragraphs (a)
to (f).[11]
(2) The
Minister may make loans to an agricultural company for any of the purposes for
which a loan may be made under paragraph (1), and, unless the context
otherwise requires, references in these Regulations to the applicant, owner or
borrower, as the case may be, shall be construed as including references to an
agricultural company applying for a loan, or to whom a loan has been made,
under these Regulations.
(3) A
loan may be made to spouses jointly if the real property on which the loan is
to be secured is owned by them for themselves and the survivor of them and the
heirs of such survivor.[12]
5 Amount
of loans, interest rate and repayment provisions
(1) The
amount of the principal of a loan, made for a purpose set out in Regulation
4(1)(a) to (g), shall not exceed 90% of the estimated cost of carrying out the
purpose in respect of which the loan is sought, unless the carrying out of such
purpose is likely to contribute to the saving of energy resources.[13]
(2) Subject
to paragraphs (4) and (5), loans carry an annual interest rate of 3%
accruing on a daily basis on the amount of the principal (which for the
purposes of this paragraph includes any arrears of interest) for the time being
unpaid.[14]
(3) Subject
to paragraph (4), the principal of the loan shall be repaid together with
the interest thereon by instalments of such amounts and payable at such
intervals, not exceeding one year, that the whole shall be repaid within such
period, being a period not exceeding 30 years from the grant of the loan or, in
the case of a secured loan, the date of the hypothec, as, subject to paragraph (5),
may be agreed:
Provided that –
(a) the
whole of the outstanding principal of the loan, or any part thereof, may be
repaid at any time without notice;
(b) the Minister may, on the recommendation of
the Board, allow a borrower to postpone any further repayments for a period not
exceeding 3 years, paying thereafter instalments of such revised amounts as
shall be necessary, and for this purpose the Minister may extend the period of
years within which the loan is to be repaid by a period not exceeding the
period of postponement.[15]
(4) The
Minister may, on the recommendation of the Board, make a loan –
(a) on which no interest shall be charged in respect
of the period of 2 years from the date on which the loan is made; and
(b) for which, subject to Regulations 12 and 13,
no instalments of principal shall be due during such period of 2 years,
where the carrying out of
the purpose for which the loan is made is likely to contribute to the saving of
energy resources.[16]
(5) Prior
to the re-registration, under Regulation 6(1), of a hypothec on which a loan is
secured, the Minister may increase the rate of interest which the loan bears,
or reduce the period of years within which it is to be repaid.[17]
(6) No
increase in the rate of interest which the loan bears, or reduction of the
period of years within which it is to be repaid shall take effect unless the
Minister has served on the borrower a notice containing particulars of such
increase in the rate of interest or reduction in the period for repayment, as
the case may be and he or she has not, within the 30 days following the
delivery of the notice, made representations in writing to the Minister giving
reasons why such increase in the rate of interest or reduction in the period
for repayment should not take effect, having regard to his or her financial
circumstances.[18]
(7) A
notice under paragraph (6) may be served in the manner described in Regulation
13(9) and (10). [19]
(8) Upon
receipt of representations in writing from the borrower under paragraph (6)
the Minister shall take such representations into account and, having regard to
the financial circumstances of the borrower may vary or rescind the decision to
increase the rate of interest or to reduce the period for repayment or postpone
its operation and any such action may have retrospective effect. [20]
6 Secured
loans
(1) Every
loan which the Minister requires to be secured shall be secured by a judicial
hypothec charged on such of the real property in the ownership of the applicant
as the Minister, on the recommendation of the Board, may determine and, until
such time as the principal of the loan is repaid, together with the interest
thereon, every such hypothec shall be re-registered during the 3 months
immediately preceding the 10th anniversary of its last previous registration.
(2) Every
hypothec to secure a loan shall state that the loan is made subject to such of
the conditions set out in Regulation 12 as are applicable.
(3) Every
authority given by the Minister to create a hypothec to secure a loan shall be
deemed to include an authority to extinguish the hypothec on the repayment of
the principal of the loan, together with the interest thereon.
(4) No
secured loan shall be made –
(a) under
Regulation 4(1) –
(i) to a person, not
being a person carrying on, or proposing to carry on, farming in partnership
with another person, if the property on which the loan is to be secured is not
in the sole ownership in perpetuity of that person or in the joint ownership of
himself or herself and his or her husband or wife,
(ii) to
persons carrying on, or proposing to carry on, farming in partnership, if the
property on which the loan is to be secured is not in the joint or common
ownership in perpetuity of those persons, or in the sole ownership in perpetuity
of one of them;
(b) under
Regulation 4(2) to an agricultural company, if the property on which the loan
is to be secured is not in the sole ownership in perpetuity of the company.[21]
7 Procedure
on applications
(1) An
application for the making of a loan shall be in such form, shall be made in
such manner and shall contain all such information as the Minister may require.
(2) If –
(a) an
application is made otherwise than in accordance with the Minister’s requirements; or
(b) any
information contained in an application is found to be false in a material
particular,
the Minister shall refuse
the application.
(3) The
Minister shall refer to the Board for its recommendations every application for
the making of a loan, other than an application which the Minister has refused
under paragraph (2), and shall furnish with the application any
information given by the applicant under paragraph (1) in support of his
or her application.
(4) The
Board, if in a particular case it considers it to be necessary or expedient so
to do, may –
(a) request
an applicant to furnish such additional information in connection with his or
her application as may be so requested;
(b) invite
an applicant, or, in the case of an application by an agricultural company, the
beneficial owners or the officers of that company, to appear before it.
(5) In
deciding on the recommendation to be made to the Minister with regard to an
application, the Board, in addition to considering the information in pursuance
of paragraph (3) and any additional information furnished in pursuance of paragraph (4),
shall have regard to all the circumstances of the case and, without prejudice
to the generality of the foregoing provisions of this paragraph, such
circumstances shall include –
(a) where
the purpose of the loan is to assist or enable an applicant who does not
already occupy and farm agricultural land to purchase agricultural land to be
occupied and farmed by the applicant, whether the land in respect of which the
application is made is capable of yielding a sufficient livelihood to an
occupier skilled in husbandry;
(b) whether
the carrying out of the purpose for which the application is made is likely to
contribute to the more efficient and economic farming of the agricultural land
occupied and farmed by the applicant;
(c) the
cost of carrying out the purpose in respect of which the application has been
made in relation to the benefit to be derived therefrom;
(d) the
skill and experience in husbandry of the applicant or, in the case of an
application by an agricultural company, of the beneficial owners of the
company;
(e) the
financial assets of the applicant whether arising from the farming of the
agricultural land in his or her occupation or otherwise;
(f) the
financial liabilities, whether present or contingent, of the applicant.
(6) The
recommendation of the Board shall be made to the Minister in writing, and may
recommend that an application for the making of a loan should –
(a) be
granted;
(b) be
granted in, or in respect of, an amount less than the amount specified in the
application;
(c) be
granted, subject to the applicant complying with such requirements as may be
specified in the recommendation; or
(d) not
be granted,
and, if the Board
recommends that an application for the making of a loan be granted, it shall
also recommend whether the loan is to be secured or unsecured and, if secured,
on which part of the real property in the ownership of the applicant the
judicial hypothec is to be charged.
(7) Subject
to the provisions of these Regulations, the Minister, after consideration of an
application and of any recommendation made by the Board in respect thereof, may –
(a) grant
the application, either unconditionally or subject to such conditions and on
such terms as to security as the Minister thinks fit –
(i) in the amount
recommended by the Board, or
(ii) in
an amount less than the amount so recommended; or
(b) refuse
the application,
so, however, that the Minister
shall not, without the approval of the Minister for Treasury and Resources,
make a loan for an amount exceeding £150,000, or where the
applicant’s outstanding capital indebtedness under these Regulations
would exceed £150,000.
8 Board
to be satisfied as to buildings
The Board shall satisfy
itself, before making a recommendation under Regulation 7(6) with respect to an
application for the purchase of agricultural land including a dwelling-house or
other farm buildings, or a purpose specified in Regulation 4(1)(b), that –
(a) the
dwelling-house is, or will be put, in a good state of repair and in all
respects fit for human habitation;
(b) the
buildings are, or will be put, in a good state of repair.
9 Power
to advance loans by instalments
A loan made for any of
the purposes specified in Regulation 4(1)(b), (c) or (d) may be advanced from
time to time in a manner consistent with the carrying out of the purpose.
10 Buildings
to be kept insured
Where a loan is secured
on –
(a) property
being, or including, a dwelling-house or other buildings (including
glasshouses); or
(b) a
dwelling-house or a permanent farm building (including a glasshouse) to be
constructed,
the Minister shall, until
such time as the principal of the loan has been repaid, together with the
interest thereon, keep such dwelling-house or other buildings insured against
fire, and against such other perils as it may determine, in the names of the
States, as holders of the hypothec, and the owner, and the premiums payable in
respect of the insurance shall be refunded by the owner on demand therefor
being made by or on behalf of the Minister.
11 Borrower
no longer engaged in agricultural work[22]
(1) Where
a borrower ceases to be engaged wholly or mainly in work of an agricultural
nature in Jersey on agricultural land occupied and farmed by the borrower he or
she shall forthwith notify the Minister.
(2) Where
the Minister –
(a) has
received a notification from a borrower under paragraph (1); or
(b) is
otherwise of the opinion that a borrower has ceased to be engaged wholly or
mainly in work of an agricultural nature in Jersey on agricultural land
occupied and farmed by him or her,
the Minister may serve on
the borrower a notice requiring him or her to repay forthwith, or on such date
as may be specified in the notice, the full amount of the principal of the loan
outstanding at the date on which the notice is served together with any
interest payable up to the time such repayment is made.
(3) A
notice under this Regulation may be served in the manner described in Regulation
13(9) and (10).
12 Conditions
to be observed until loan repaid
(1) In
the case of a secured loan, until such time as the principal of a loan is
repaid, together with the interest thereon, the following conditions shall be
observed, that is to say –
(a) except
with the consent in writing of the Minister, and in accordance with any
conditions attached to such consent –
(i) property on which
a loan is secured, or any part thereof, shall not be sold or otherwise disposed
of inter vivos,
(ii) the
owner shall not, by any act or omission on his or her part, suffer any rente or
hypothec, other than a legal hypothec, to become charged on the property on
which the loan is secured, or on any part thereof,
(iii) the
owner shall not use any land, or any part thereof, in respect of which a loan
has been made, for purposes other than agricultural purposes,
(iv) the
owner, or where the owner is a partnership, or an agricultural company, one of
the partners, or beneficial owners of the company, shall, where the loan was
made in respect of property being –
(A) agricultural
land with which is included a dwelling-house or other buildings, both occupy
and reside in the dwelling-house, and shall occupy and use all such other
buildings only for purposes connected with the farming of the agricultural
land,
(B) a
dwelling-house to be constructed, or a building to be converted into a
dwelling-house, as soon as may be after the work of construction or conversion
is completed, both occupy and reside in the dwelling-house,
and shall not let or
otherwise part with the possession of the property:
Provided that where the
property as aforesaid includes more than one dwelling-house, the owner may,
subject to sub-paragraph (c), let any such additional dwelling-house,
together with any area not exceeding 10 perches of the agricultural land to a person
wholly employed by him or her in connection with the farming of the
agricultural land,
(v) a dwelling-house
forming, or forming part of, property in respect of which the loan has been
made shall not be used for any purposes other than the purposes of a private
dwelling-house, and the owner shall take all reasonable steps to secure the
maintenance of the dwelling-house so as to be in all respects fit for human
habitation,
(vi) the
owner, being persons farming agricultural land in partnership, or in the case
of an agricultural company, the beneficial owners of that company, shall not
dissolve, or cause to be dissolved, or admit, or cause to be admitted, any
other person into the partnership or company or do any act whereby effective
control of any property of the partnership or company on which a loan is
secured, passes to persons not approved by the Minister;
(b) every
sum due in respect of principal and interest of the loan, and of the insurance
of any dwelling-house or other building, shall be punctually paid;
(c) where
the land in respect of which the loan was made, or any part thereof, is let,
the rental to be charged and received by the owner shall not exceed such amount
as may be determined by the Minister, no fine, premium or other like sum shall
be demanded or taken in addition to the rental as so determined and the lease
or agreement for a lease or tenancy shall prohibit the lessee or tenant from
assigning, subletting or otherwise parting with the possession of the land, or part
thereof and from committing a breach of either of the conditions set out in sub-paragraph (a)(v),
and sub-paragraph (d);
(d) agricultural
land, in respect of which the loan was made, shall be kept clean, in good
condition and in a good state of fertility, and shall be cultivated only in
accordance with the principles and practices of good husbandry;
(e) the
owner shall take all necessary steps to ensure the maintenance in good repair
of any dwelling-house or other building forming, or forming part of, the
property on which the loan is secured and to ensure that any lessee or tenant
observes the terms of the lease or agreement for a lease or tenancy.
(2) Where
a dwelling-house forming, or forming part of, the property in respect of which
a loan was made is let and the Minister, in pursuance of paragraph (1)(c),
has determined the maximum rental of that dwelling-house, the provisions of the
Dwelling-Houses (Rent
Control) (Jersey) Law 1946, shall not apply to that dwelling-house.
13 Powers
of Minister in event of breach of conditions
(1) In
the event of a breach of any of the conditions mentioned in Regulation 12(1),
the Minister may apply to the Inferior Number of the Royal Court for an Order
vesting in the public the ownership of the property on which the loan is
secured, or such part thereof as the Minister may determine:
Provided that the Court
shall not make such an Order unless the Minister has served on the owner of the
property a notice requiring him or her to remedy the breach and he or she has
failed, within the 30 days next following the delivery of the notice, to comply
therewith.
(2) An
Order made under paragraph (1) shall include an Order for the registration
thereof in the Public Registry of Contracts and an Order so registered shall
have the like effect to a contract passed before the Royal Court and shall
constitute a valid title to the property to which it relates and to the rights
appertaining thereto, and such title shall bear the date of the Order of the
Court.
(3) Where
any property is vested in the public by virtue of an Order made under paragraph (1),
it shall be so vested subject to any rente or
hypothec to which the Minister has consented under Regulation 12(1)(a)(ii) but
otherwise free of all rentes and hypothecs,
other than legal hypothecs, bearing a date subsequent to that of the hypothec
securing the loan.[23]
(4) Where
any property vested as aforesaid is, or includes, property so situated that
access thereto from a public road may be had only by passage over or through
property in the ownership of the former owner of the property so vested, or of
his or her successors in title to such ownership, the customary Law of Jersey
in relation to enclaves shall apply, for the
benefit of the Minister as representing the public and of the Minister’s
successors in title, to the vested property so situated notwithstanding that
such property, or any part thereof, may –
(a) consist
of land covered with buildings; or
(b) be
used for purposes other than purposes of farming.
(5) An
Order registered in pursuance of paragraph (2) shall not be renounced for
want of insertion in the register of a décret
if it bears a date earlier than that of the insertion on which a tenant is confirmed in the tenure of the real
estate en décret.
(6) An
Order made under paragraph (1) shall, notwithstanding the provisions of
the Loi (1919) sur la location de bien-fonds, operate as
a notice to the former owner to quit the property in respect of which the loan
was made not later than the Christmas Day next following the day on which the Order
was made.
(7) Where any property is
vested in the public by virtue of an Order made under paragraph (1), the
Minister, at his or her absolute discretion, shall cause the property –
(a) to be
sold to an applicant; or
(b) to be
put up for sale by public auction,
and shall, out of the proceeds of the sale, after paying off any
prior charges on the property, retain any sums due –
(i) on account of the
principal and interest of the loan,
(ii) in
respect of the insurance of any dwelling-house and other buildings forming, or
forming part of, the property,
(iii) in
respect of all costs, charges and expenses properly incurred in connection with
the vesting of the property as aforesaid and the sale thereof,
and shall pay any balance thereafter remaining to the Viscount for
the benefit of the former owner:
Provided that where the Minister is unable to sell the property for
an amount sufficient to pay, out of the proceeds of the sale, any sums as
aforesaid, the Minister may retain the property under his or her own management
and shall not be liable to pay any sum to the former owner.
(8) Where, under paragraph (7),
any money is paid to the Viscount he or she shall, as soon as may be, cause a
notice to be published in the Jersey Gazette stating that he or she holds the
money on behalf of the former owner (naming the former owner) and that any person
having a claim against the former owner should take proceedings for the
protection of his or her interests within the period of 6 weeks beginning with
the date of the first publication of the notice, and if, within that period, no
such proceedings have been instituted, or there has not been lodged with the
Viscount notice of intention to institute such proceedings, supported by an
affidavit, the Viscount shall pay the money to the former owner.
(9) A notice under the
proviso to paragraph (1) may be served –
(a) by
delivering it to the person on whom it is to be served;
(b) by
leaving it at the usual place of abode of that person;
(c) by
sending it by registered post, or by the recorded delivery service, addressed
to that person at his or her usual place of abode; or
(d) if it
is not practicable after reasonable enquiry to ascertain the usual place of
abode of that person, by addressing it to the person on whom it is to be
served, and by delivering it to some responsible person resident or appearing
to be resident on the property in respect of which the notice is to be served,
or, if there is no such person to whom it can be delivered, by affixing it, or
a copy of it, to some conspicuous part of the property.
(10) A notice may be served on an
agricultural company by serving it, as provided in paragraph (9), on the
secretary or clerk of the company at the registered or principal office of the
company.
PART 3
MISCELLANEOUS
14 Power
of entry and inspection
An officer in the administration of the States for which the
Minister is assigned responsibility, or a person authorized in writing by the
Minister, shall be permitted at all reasonable times to enter on and inspect
any property on which a loan is secured, or in respect of which a loan has been
made, for the purpose of ascertaining whether these Regulations, and any
conditions contained therein or made under these Regulations, are being
observed and it shall be the duty of the borrower to give such assistance and
to furnish all such information as that officer or other person may think
necessary for the purposes of his or her duties under these Regulations.
15 Citation
These Regulations may be cited as the Agriculture (Loans) (Jersey)
Regulations 1974.