TNAG-1199-FCO40-1501-Hong-Kong-immigration-legislation-1982 — Page 226

A456

Ord. No. 76/81

(Cap. 227.)

LANDLORD AND TENANT (CONSOLIDATION) (AMENDMENT) (NO. 2)

(a) let the premises or any part thereof; or (b) assign, transfer or part with possession of the premises or any part thereof except, in a case specified in paragraph (c) of section 119E(1), where the assignment, transfer or parting with possession is solely to facilitate the rebuilding of the premises. (2) (a) The Tribunal may authorize a landlord who successfully opposes the grant of a new tenancy on the ground specified in paragraph (b) or (c) of section 119E(1) to let, assign, transfer or part with possession of the premises or any part thereof and the Commissioner may authorize such a landlord to let the premises or any part thereof for a partic- ular purpose and for a term not exceeding 1 year. (b) The Tribunal or the Commissioner, when granting an authority under paragraph (a) to let, shall specify the terms, including the rent, on which the premises or the part are to be let:

Provided that the rent shall not be more than that payable by the tenant last in possession.

(3) Without prejudice to subsection (9), a landlord who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine of $500,000 and in addition, on a second or subsequent conviction, to imprison- ment for 12 months, and in any case to forfeit a sum not exceeding the equivalent of

(a) in the case of a contravention of subsection (1)(a), 2 years' rent calculated at the rate at which the premises were let without the authority of the Tribunal or the Commissioner; or

(b) in the case of a contravention of subsection (1)(b), the difference, at the date of the contravention, between the market value of the premises with vacant possession and the market value of the premises with the former tenant in possession.

(4) Any court which sentences a landlord for an offence under subsection (3) may, in addition to imposing a penalty under that subsection, make an order under subsection (9) after hearing the former tenant and the defendant.

(5) Notwithstanding anything in the Magistrates Ordin- ance, proceedings for an offence under subsection (3) may be brought at any time within 2 years next after the commission of the offence or within 6 months after discovery thereof by the prosecutor, whichever period expires first.

(6) A letting, assignment, transfer or parting with pos- session of premises or part thereof shall not be void, voidable or unenforceable by reason only of a contravention of subsection (1).

(7) Where, in his opposition to an application for a new tenancy, the landlord alleges a ground mentioned in paragraph (b) or (c) of section 119E(1) but the application does not proceed and the tenant consents to deliver up vacant possession of the premises, the landlord shall be deemed, for the purposes of subsections (1), (8) and (9), to have success- fully opposed the grant of a new tenancy on a ground

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LANDLORD AND TENANT (CONSOLIDATION) (AMENDMENT) (NO. 2)

Duration of

new tenancy. 1954 c. 56,

s. 33.

Other terms of new tenancy. 1954 c. 56, s. 35.

Rent under new tenancy. 1954 c. 56, s. 34.

Ord. No. 76/81

A457

specified in paragraph (b) or (c) of section 119E(1); and, for the purposes of fixing the commencement of the period mentioned in subsection (1), the date of the decision of the Tribunal declining to make an order for the grant of a new tenancy shall be deemed to be the date of the notice under section 119(1) or 119A(3), as the case may be.

(8) A landlord who has successfully opposed the grant of a new tenancy on a ground specified in paragraph (b) or (c) of section 119E(1) shall be presumed, until the contrary is shown, to have knowledge of that opposition, of the application for a new tenancy, of the grounds alleged upon which the application was opposed, of the outcome of the application and of any consent given by the tenant or sub- tenant in connexion with the delivery of vacant possession.

(9) Where a landlord successfully opposes the grant of a new tenancy under section 119E(1) and it is subsequently made to appear to the Tribunal that the opposition was successful by reason of the misrepresentation or concealment of material facts or where the landlord is shown to have acted in contravention of subsection (1), the Tribunal may order the landlord to pay to the former tenant such sum as it thinks fit by way of compensation for damage or loss sustained by that tenant as a result of that opposition.

(10) Where a tenant obtains the grant of a new tenancy under section 119D and it is subsequently made to appear to the Tribunal that the grant was obtained by reason of the misrepresentation or concealment of material facts, the Tribunal may order the tenant to pay to the landlord such sum as it thinks fit by way of compensation for damage or loss sustained by the landlord as a result of that grant.

1191. Where on an application under this part the Tribunal makes an order for the grant of a new tenancy, the new tenancy shall be such tenancy as may be agreed between the landlord and the tenant, or, in default of such an agree- ment, shall be such a tenancy as may be determined by the Tribunal to be reasonable in all the circumstances, being a tenancy for a term not exceeding 3 years, and shall begin on the coming to an end of the current tenancy:

Provided that, if there is a principal tenancy which comes to an end within a term of 3 years, the Tribunal shall not determine the duration of the tenancy to be longer than the term until the principal tenancy comes to an end, less 3 days.

119J. The terms of a tenancy granted by order of the Tribunal under this Part (other than terms as to the duration thereof and as to the rent payable thereunder) shall be such as may be agreed between the landlord and the tenant or as, in default of such agreement, may be determined by the Tribunal; and in determining those terms the Tribunal shall have regard to the terms of the current tenancy and to all relevant circumstances.

119K. (1) The rent payable under a new tenancy granted by order of the Tribunal shall be such as may be agreed between the landlord and tenant or as, in default of such agreement, may be determined by the Tribunal or by a valuation surveyor appointed by the Tribunal, to be a fair market rent.