Section 38: When Can a Tenant Lose Occupancy Rights?
38.Abandonment and termination of occupancy
(1)Subject to section 27, where a tenant by occupancy voluntarily abandons his or her occupancy—
(a)the right of occupancy shall lapse;
(b)the occupant may remove any structures, buildings and other things placed by him or her on the land but not dams or trees;
(c)the occupant is not entitled to any compensation for loss of the occupancy.
(2)For the purposes of subsection (1), a person shall be taken to have abandoned his or her occupancy—
(a)where he or she gives notice to the registered owner of his or her intention to abandon the occupancy; or
(b)where he or she leaves the whole of the land unattended to by himself or herself or a member of his or her family or his or her authorised agent for three years or more.
(3)Where the occupant proves that he or she was under a disability during any part of the period, the period of three years shall be extended by the period during which disability prevented the tenant by occupancy from exercising his or her right of occupancy and there was no member of the family and no authorised agent who could exercise the right of occupancy on behalf of the tenant.
(4)Where the tenant by occupancy is compelled to vacate the land by reason of the fact that his or her building has been condemned or demolished by order of a body or authority authorised to do so under any enactment, then where the occupancy is in respect of land in an urban area—
(a)the occupant's right of occupancy shall not be taken to have been extinguished;
(b)if development is not possible, owing to planning or building restrictions under any law, the occupant is entitled to assign his or her right of occupancy giving the registered owner the first option;
(c)the registered owner shall have the right with the approval of the board to acquire the right of occupancy upon payment to the occupant of compensation for the right of occupancy and any development of the land, determined by a valuer appointed by the Government.
(5)The urban council within whose jurisdiction land in an urban area is situated may determine that, subject to any existing scheme approved under the Physical Planning Act, no building may be erected and no development may be carried out on that land unless the owner and the tenants by occupancy have agreed to a programme of planned development which has been approved by that urban council; and any such programme of planned development shall include arrangements for the future ownership and occupation of the land, having regard to the provisions of this Act.
(6)A tenant by occupancy or a registered owner of land who is aggrieved by the decision of the board or valuation of the appointed valuer under subsection (4)(c) may appeal to a district land tribunal.
Plain English Summary
A tenant by occupancy who voluntarily abandons land loses the right to occupy it. You may remove structures you built, but not dams or trees, and you ...
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