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This version of this statute is extracted from the UK Statute Law Database (SLD). It is not necessarily in the form in which it was originally enacted but is a revised version, which means that any subsequent amendments to the text and other effects are incorporated with annotations.
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An Act to consolidate the Universities and College Estates Acts 1858 to 1898, and enactments amending those Acts.
[9th April 1925]
C1Act extended with modification by Universities and Colleges (Trusts) Act 1943 (c. 9), s. 2(3)
C2Act extended by Highways Act 1980 (c. 66, SIF 59), s. 87(5)
C3Act applied (E.W.) (1.11.1993) by 1993 c. 28, s. 61, Sch. 14 para.10 (with ss. 94(2), 95); S.I. 1993/2134, art. 5(a).
I1Act wholly in force at 1. 1. 1926 by s. 45(2) (now repealed)
The universities and colleges to which this Act applies are the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham, and the colleges or halls in those universities, and the Colleges of Saint Mary of Winchester, near Winchester, and of King Henry the Sixth at Eton, and for the purposes of this Act the Cathedral or House of Christ Church in Oxford shall be considered to be a college in the University of Oxford.
(1)A university or college—
(i)May sell any land belonging to the university or college, or any easement, right or privilege of any kind, over or in relation to such land; and
(ii). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1
(iii)May make an exchange of any land belonging to the university or college, or of any easement, right, or privilege of any kind, whether or not newly created, over or in relation to such land, for other land, or for any easement, right or privilege of any kind, whether or not newly created, over or in relation to other land, including an exchange in consideration of money paid for equality of exchange.
[F2(2)A sale or exchange under this section or any other provision of this Act shall not be made except with the consent of the Minister.]
(3)On a sale or exchange by a university or college under the powers of this Act, any restriction or reservation with respect to building on or other user of land, or with respect to mines and minerals, or with respect to or for the purpose of the more beneficial working thereof, or with respect to any other thing, may be imposed or reserved and made binding, as far as the law permits, by covenant, condition or otherwise on the university or college and land belonging to it, or on the other party and any land sold or given in exchange to him.
F1s. 2(1) para(ii) repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969 (c. 52), Sch. Pt. III
F2s. 2(2) omitted in relation to universities and their colleges by Universities and College Estates Act 1964 (c. 51), s. 2, Sch. 1 Pt. I para. 1
(1)Save as hereinafter provided, every sale shall be made for the best consideration in money that can reasonably be obtained.
(2)A sale may be made in consideration wholly or partially of a perpetual rent, or a terminable rent consisting of principal and interest combined, payable yearly or half yearly to be secured upon the land sold, or the land to which the easement, right or privilege sold is to be annexed in enjoyment, or an adequate part thereof:
In the case of a terminable rent, the conveyance shall distinguish the part attributable to principal and that attributable to interest; and the part attributable to principal shall, [F1when received by the university or college, be paid to the Minister and] be capital money:
Provided that, unless the part of the terminable rent attributable to interest varies according to the amount of the principal repaid, [F2the Minister][F2the university or college concerned] shall, during the subsistence of the rent, accumulate the income of the said capital money in the way of compound interest by investing the same and the resulting income thereof in securities authorised for the investment of capital money and add the accumulations to capital.
(3)The rent to be reserved on any such sale shall be the best rent that can reasonably be obtained, regard being had to any money paid as part of the consideration, or laid out, or to be laid out, for the benefit of any land belonging to the university or college, and generally to the circumstances of the case, but a peppercorn rent, or a nominal or other rent less than the rent ultimately payable, may be made payable during any period not exceeding five years from the date of the conveyance.
(4)Where a sale is made in consideration of a rent, the following provisions shall have effect:—
(i)The conveyance shall contain a covenant by the purchaser for payment of the rent, and [F3the statutory powers and remedies for the recovery of the rent shall apply.]
(ii)A duplicate of the conveyance shall be executed by the purchaser and delivered to the university or college, of which execution and delivery the execution of the conveyance by the university or college shall be sufficient evidence:
(iii)A statement contained in the conveyance, or in an indorsement thereon signed by or on behalf of the university or college, respecting any matter of fact or of calculation under this Act in relation to the sale, shall, in favour of the purchaser and of those claiming under him, be sufficient evidence of the matter stated.
(5)A sale may be made in one lot or in several lots, and either by auction or by private contract, and may be made subject to any stipulations respecting title or evidence of title or other things.
(6)On a sale the university or college may fix reserve biddings and buy in at an auction.
F1Words omitted in relation to universities and their colleges by Universities and College Estates Act 1964 (c. 51), s. 3(1), Sch. 1 Pt. II para. 1
F2Words “the university or college concerned” substituted for words “the Minister” in relation to universities and their colleges by Universities and College Estates Act 1964 (c. 51), s. 3(1), Sch. 1 Pt. II para. 1
F3Words substituted by Law of Property (Amendment) Act 1926 (c. 11), s. 7, Sch.
(1)Save as hereinafter provided every exchange shall be made for the best consideration in land or in land and money that can reasonably be obtained.
(2)An exchange may be made subject to any stipulations respecting title, or evidence of title, or other things.
(3)Land in England or Wales shall not be given by a university or college in exchange for land out of England and Wales.
Any money (not being rent) payable as consideration on a sale or exchange effected by a university or college under this Act shall be capital money [F1and be paid to the Minister.]
F1Words omitted in relation to universities and their colleges by Universities and College Estates Act 1964 (c. 51), s. 3(1), Sch. 1 Pt. II para. 2
C1S. 5 extended by Leasehold Reform Act 1967 (c. 88), s. 24(1)(b)
A university or college may lease any land belonging to the university or college, or any easement, right, or privilege of any kind, over or in relation to the same, for any purpose whatever, whether involving waste or not, for any term not exceeding—
(i)In case of a building lease, ninety-nine years:
(ii)In case of a mining lease, sixty years:
(iii)In case of any other lease, twenty-one years.
(1)Save as hereinafter provided:—
(i)Every lease shall be by deed, and be made to take effect in possession not later than twelve months after its date:
(ii)Every lease shall reserve the best rent that can reasonably be obtained, regard being had to any fine taken, and to any money laid out or to be laid out for the benefit of any land belonging to the university or college, and generally to the circumstances of the case:
(iii)Every lease shall contain a covenant by the lessee for payment of the rent, and a condition of re-entry on the rent not being paid within a time therein specified not exceeding thirty days.
(2)A counterpart of every lease shall be executed by the lessee and delivered to the university or college, of which execution and delivery the execution of the lease by the university or college shall be sufficient evidence.
(3)A statement, contained in a lease or in an indorsement thereon, signed by or on behalf of the university or college, respecting any matter of fact or of calculation under this Act in relation to the lease, shall, in favour of the lessee and of those claiming under him, be sufficient evidence of the matter stated.
(4)A fine received on the grant of a lease under any power conferred by this Act shall be capital money [F1and be paid to the Minister.]
F1Words omitted in relation to universities and their colleges by Universities and College Estates Act 1964 (c. 51), s. 3(1), Sch. 1 Pt. II para. 3
The leasing power of a university or college extends to the making of—
(i)a lease for giving effect (in such manner and so far as the law permits) to a covenant of renewal, performance whereof could be enforced against the owner for the time being of the land belonging to the university or college; and
(ii)a lease for confirming, as far as may be, a previous lease being void or voidable; but so that every lease, as and when confirmed, shall be such a lease as might at the date of the original lease have been lawfully granted under this Act, or otherwise, as the case may require.
(1)Every building lease shall be made partly in consideration of the lessee, or some person by whose direction the lease is granted, or some other person, having erected, or agreeing to erect, buildings, new or additional, or having improved or repaired, or agreeing to improve or repair, buildings, or having executed, or agreeing to execute, on the land leased, an improvement authorised by this Act for or in connexion with building purposes.
(2)A peppercorn rent or a nominal or other rent less than the rent ultimately payable, may be made payable for the first five years or any less part of the term.
(3)Where the land is contracted to be leased in lots, the entire amount of rent to be ultimately payable may be apportioned among the lots in any manner; save that—
(i)the annual rent reserved by any lease shall not be less than [F150p]; and
(ii)the total amount of the rents reserved on all leases for the time being granted shall not be less than the total amount of the rents which, in order that the leases may be in conformity with this Act, ought to be reserved in respect of the whole land for the time being leased; and
(iii)the rent reserved by any lease shall not exceed one-fifth part of the full annual value of the land comprised in that lease with the buildings thereon when completed.
F1Words substituted by virtue of Decimal Currency Act 1969 (c. 19), s. 10(1)
(1)In a mining lease—
(i)the rent may be made to be ascertainable by or to vary according to the [F1area] worked, or by or according to the quantities of any mineral or substance gotten, made merchantable, converted, carried away, or disposed of, in or from any land belonging to the university or college, or any other land, or by or according to any facilities given in that behalf; and
(ii)the rent may also be made to vary according to the price of the minerals or substances gotten, or any of them, and such price may be the saleable value, or the price or value appearing in any trade or market or other price list or return from time to time, or may be the marketable value as ascertained in any manner prescribed by the lease (including a reference to arbitration), or may be an average of any such prices or values taken during a specified period; and
(iii)a fixed or minimum rent may be made payable, with or without power for the lessee, in case the rent, according to [F1area] or quantity or otherwise, in any specified period does not produce an amount equal to the fixed or minimum rent, to make up the deficiency in any subsequent specified period, free of rent other than the fixed or minimum rent.
(2)A lease may be made partly in consideration of the lessee having executed, or his agreeing to execute, on the land leased, an improvement authorised by this Act for or in connexion with mining purposes.
Where it is shown to the Minister with respect to the district in which any land belonging to a university or college is situate, either—
(i)that it is the custom for land therein to be leased for building or mining purposes for a longer term or on other conditions than the term or conditions specified in that behalf in this Act: or
(ii)that it is difficult to make leases for building or mining purposes of land therein, except for a longer term or on other conditions than the term and conditions specified in that behalf in this Act;
the Minister may, if he thinks fit, authorise generally the university or college to make from time to time leases of or affecting land in that district for any term or on any conditions as in the authority expressed, or may, if he thinks fit, authorise the university or college to make any such lease in any particular case, and thereupon the university or college, subject to any direction in the authority to the contrary, may make in any case, or in the particular case, a lease of the land in conformity with the authority.
The net rents, tolls, duties, royalties, and reservations which may be received by a university or college, for or in respect of any mining lease to be granted under this Act or any enactment hereby repealed, shall be applied and disposed of by the university or college in manner following; (that is to say),—
(a)one equal third part of such net rents, tolls, duties, royalties, and reservations, shall be applicable and be applied by the university or college as part of their ordinary income, and
(b)the remaining two equal third parts thereof shall be applicable and be applied by the university or college in or upon any of the purposes following; (that is to say,) in the purchase of lands to be conveyed to or for the benefit of the university or college, or in the erection of new buildings, or in the addition to and enlargement of any existing buildings, or in the drainage, or other permanent and lasting improvement of any lands belonging to the universtiy or college, or in the purchase of any wayleaves, or other easements, in, over, or upon any lands adjoining, or near to any such lands; and, in the meantime, until such two equal third parts shall be applied in or upon any of the purposes aforesaid, the same shall be invested by the university or college in the purchase of Government stocks, funds, or securities, and the interest, dividends, and annual proceeds thereof shall be received by the university or college, and be applicable as part of their ordinary income.
(1)A university or college may accept, with or without consideration, a surrender of any lease of land belonging to the university or college, whether made under this Act or not, or a regrant of any land granted in fee simple, whether under this Act or not, in respect of the whole land leased or granted, or any part thereof, with or without an exception of all or any of the mines and minerals therein, or in respect of mines and minerals, or any of them, and with or without an exception of any easement, right or privilege of any kind over or in relation to the land surrendered or regranted.
(2)On a surrender of a lease, or a regrant of land granted in fee simple, in respect of part only of the land or mines and minerals leased or granted, the rent may be apportioned.
(3)On a surrender or regrant, the university or college may in relation to the land or mines and minerals surrendered or regranted, or of any part thereof, make a new or other lease or grant in fee simple, or new or other leases or grants in fee simple in lots.
(4)A new or other lease, or grant in fee simple, may comprise additional land or mines and minerals, and may reserve any apportioned or other rent.
(5)On a surrender or regrant, and the making of a new or other lease, whether for the same or for any extended or other term, or of a new or other grant in fee simple, and whether or not subject to the same or to any other covenants, provisions, or conditions, the value of the lessee’s or grantee’s interest in the lease surrendered, or the land regranted, may be taken into account in the determination of the amount of the rent to be reserved, and of any fine or consideration in money to be taken, and of the nature of the covenants, provisions, and conditions to be inserted in the new or other lease, or grant in fee simple.
(6)Every new or other lease, or grant in fee simple, shall be in conformity with this Act.
(7)All money (not being rent) received on the exercise by a university or college of the powers conferred by this section, [F1shall be paid to the Minister, and] shall, unless the Minister (upon an application made within six months after the receipt thereof or within such further time as the Minister may in special circumstances allow) otherwise directs, be capital money.
(8)In this section “land granted in fee simple” means land so granted with or subject to a reservation thereout of a perpetual or terminable rent which is or forms part of land belonging to the university or college, and “grant in fee simple” has a corresponding meaning.
F1Words omitted in relation to universities and their colleges by Universities and College Estates Act 1964 (c. 51), s. 3(1), Sch. 1 Pt. II para. 4
(1)For the development, improvement, or general benefit of land belonging to the university or college, a university or college may make a grant in fee simple or absolutely or a lease for any term of years absolute, for a nominal price or rent, or for less than the best price or rent that can reasonably be obtained, or gratuitously, to any statutory authority, of any water or streams or springs of water in, upon, or under land belonging to the university or college, and of any rights of taking, using, enjoying and conveying water, and of laying, constructing, maintaining, and repairing mains, pipes, reservoirs, dams, weirs and other works of any kind proper for the supply and distribution of water, and of any land belonging to the university or college which is required as a site for any of the aforesaid works, and of any easement, right or privilege over or in relation to land belonging to the university or college in connexion with any of the aforesaid works.
(2)This section does not authorise the creation of any greater rights than could have been created by a person absolutely entitled for his own benefit to the land affected.
(3)In this section “statutory authority” means an authority or company for the time being empowered by any Act of Parliament, public, general, or local or private, or by any order or certificate having the force of an Act of Parliament, to provide with a supply of water any town, parish or place in which the land belonging to the university or college is situated.
(4)All money (not being rent) received on the exercise of any power conferred by this section shall be capital money, [F1and be paid to the Minister].
F1Words omitted in relation to universities and their colleges by Universities and College Estates Act 1964 (c. 51), s.3(1), Sch. 1 Pt. II para. 5
(1)For the development, improvement, or general benefit of land belonging to the university or college, a university or college may [F1with the consent of the Minister] make a grant in fee simple or absolutely, or a lease for any term of years absolute, for a nominal price or rent, or for less than the best price or rent that can reasonably be obtained, or gratuitously, of any land belonging to the university or college, with or without any easement, right or privilege over or in relation to land belonging to the university or college, for all or any one or more of the following purposes, namely:—
(i)For the site or the extension of any existing site of a place of religious worship, residence for a minister of religion, school house, town hall, market house, public library, public baths, museum, hospital, infirmary, or other public building, literary or scientific institution, drill hall, working-men’s club, parish room, reading room or village institute, with or without in any case any yard, garden, or other ground to be held with any such building; or
(ii)For the construction, enlargement, or improvement of any railway, canal, road (public or private), dock, sea-wall, embankment, drain, watercourse, or reservoir; or
(iii)For any other public or charitable purpose in connexion with land belonging to the university or college, or tending to the benefit of the persons residing, or for whom dwellings may be erected, on such land:
Not more than [F20.40 hectare] shall in any particular case be conveyed for any purpose mentioned in paragraphs (i) and (iii) of this subsection, nor more than [F2two hectares] for any purpose mentioned in paragraph (ii) of this subsection, unless the full consideration be paid or reserved in respect of the excess.
(2)All money (not being rent) received on the exercise of any power conferred by this section shall be capital money, [F3and be paid to the Minister].
F1Words omitted in relation to universities and their colleges by Universities and College Estates Act 1964 (c. 51), s. 2, Sch. 1 Pt. 1 para. 2
F2Words substituted by S.I. 1978/443, Sch. para. 2
F3Words omitted in relation to universities and their colleges by Universities and College Estates Act 1964 (c. 51) s. 3(1), Sch. 1 Pt. II para. 6
(1)On or after or in connexion with a sale or grant for building purposes, or a building lease or the development as a building estate of land belonging to the university or college, or at any other reasonable time, the university or college, for the general benefit of the residents on land belonging to the university or college—
(i)may cause or require any parts of such land to be appropriated and laid out for streets, roads, paths, squares, gardens, or other open spaces, for the use, gratuitously or on payment of the public or of individuals, with sewers, drains, watercourses, fencing, paving, or other works necessary or proper in connexion therewith; and
(ii)may provide that the parts so appropriated shall be conveyed to or vested in trustees or any company or public body, on trusts or subject to provisions for securing the continued appropriation thereof to the purposes aforesaid, and the continued repair or maintenance of streets and other places and works aforesaid, with or without provision for appointment of new trustees when required; and
(iii)may execute any general or other deed necessary or proper for giving effect to the provisions of this section (which deed may be inrolled in the Central Office of the Supreme Court of Judicature), and thereby declare the mode, terms, and conditions of the appropriation, and the manner in which and the persons by whom the benefit thereof is to be enjoyed, and the nature and extent of the privileges and conveniences granted.
Universities and College Estates Act 1925