Clause 7

Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or any written law or rule of law, but subject to this section and section 9 of this Act, the Board may in its discretion award compensation to a person who is neither a tenant nor a sub-tenant if that person (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the occupier”) —

has been continuously using or occupying any part of the controlled premises prior to the 1st day of January 1968;

has been paying to the landlord or a tenant, as the case may be, a sum of money, whether described as rent or not, as consideration for the use or occupation of such part of the controlled premises under an arrangement that does not constitute a tenancy;

is not by reason of such user or occupation in breach of any of the terms of a tenancy made between the landlord and the tenant, or if he is, such breach has been waived or acquiesced in by the landlord;

is bound to vacate such part of the controlled premises consequent upon an order of the Board made in the landlord’s favour under section 4 of this Act.(2) In determining any amount of compensation that the Board may decide to award to an occupier under this section, the Board, without prejudice to its right to consider any other relevant matter, may take into account the following matters: —

the cost of removal to another site;

the number of years that an occupier has been using or occupying part of the controlled premises;

the consideration paid by the occupier to the landlord or the tenant, as the case may be, for the use or occupation of such part of the controlled premises;

the area of floor space occupied or used by the occupier and the purpose for which such area has been used.(3) Where an occupier uses or occupies part of the controlled premises under an arrangement with a tenant who receives consideration for such user or occupation from the occupier and the Board decides that such occupier is entitled to receive compensation, such compensation, as the Board decides is fair and reasonable, shall be paid by the Board to the occupier out of such amount of compensation as the Board has determined should be awarded to the tenant pursuant to section 7 of this Act; and the total amount of compensation that is to be paid to the tenant shall accordingly be reduced by the amount that is to be awarded to the occupier.(4) The total amount of compensation to be awarded to an occupier under this section shall not in any event exceed such amount as would have been payable if he had occupied part of the controlled premises under a tenancy.(5) In this section “continuously using or occupying” means use or occupation of any part of the controlled premises prior to the 1st day of January 1968, which has not been interrupted for any period longer than three months or for such further period not exceeding six months as the Board may in any particular case decide having regard to the reasons advanced by the occupier for failure to use or occupy that part of the controlled premises.”.