COMMERCIAL PREMISES (LEASE CONTROL) ACT
Act 42/1983, 22/2001.
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Section
1. Short title.
2. Interpretation.
3. Rent boards.
4. Appeals from decisions of rent boards.
5. Leasing control.
AN ACT to provide for regulating and controlling the leasing of commercial,
industrial and business premises; and to provide for matters connected therewith and
incidental thereto.
[Date of commencement: 30th December, 1983.]
1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the Commercial Premises (Lease Control) Act [Chapter
14:04].
2 Interpretation
In this Act—
“commercial premises” means—
(a) any premises used for or in connection with the carrying on of any
industry, business, trade or occupation; and
(b) any ground, parking space, garage, outbuilding, workers quarters and
other improvement in, on or let or used with such premises or part thereof;
“Minister” means the Minister of Industry and Commerce or any other Minister to
whom the President may from time to time assign the administration of this Act;
“rent board” means a commercial and industrial rent board constituted in terms of
section three.
3 Rent boards
(1) The Minister may, by statutory instrument, constitute boards to be known as
commercial and industrial rent boards with such areas of jurisdiction as he may
specify.
(2) Every rent board shall consist of a chairman and such other members as the
Minister deems necessary.
(3) The members of a rent board shall be appointed on such terms and conditions as
the Minister may fix for members or classes of members generally. A member shall
be paid such remuneration and allowances, if any, out of moneys appropriated for the
purpose by Parliament as the Minister, with the approval of the Minister responsible
for finance, may fix.
4 Appeals from decisions of rent boards
(1) An appeal shall lie from the decision of a rent board to the Administrative Court.
(2) Where an appeal has been lodged in terms of subsection (1) to the Administrative
Court, the lodging of the appeal shall not suspend the decision of the rent board
concerned unless such board has made a direction to the contrary.
5 Leasing control
(1) The Minister may make such regulations as he may deem necessary for the
TITLE 14
purpose of—
(a) prescribing the functions, powers and procedure of rent boards and
providing for appeals and, more particularly—
(i) giving every rent board power, whether on behalf of the parties to the
proceedings or of its own motion, to summon witnesses and call for the production of
documents and to hear evidence under oath;
(ii) giving every rent board the power to inspect premises;
(iii) prescribing penalties for contempt of a rent board and for the giving
of false evidence in any proceedings thereof;
(b) notwithstanding anything in the common law, controlling the letting
and hiring of any commercial premises and the rents charged therefor, and regulating
and restricting the powers of the courts to make orders of ejectment against lessees of
commercial premises and, more particularly—
(i) prescribing fees for any application made to a rent board or any
authority appointed to carry out any function under such regulations;
(ii) prescribing charges for acts done or services performed under such
regulations;
(iii) restricting or suspending the rights under the common law of lessors
of commercial premises, including rights relating to leases entered into before the
coming into operation of such regulations;
(iv) specifying the maximum rent that may be charged for any commercial
premises in respect of any period, and providing for the refunding, reclaiming or
setting off of any rent paid in excess of such maximum;
(v) prescribing penalties for contraventions of such regulations.
(2) In making regulations under subsection (1) the Minister shall have regard to the
interests of both lessors and lessees.
(3) No penalty prescribed by regulations made under subsection (1) shall exceed a
fine of level five or imprisonment for a period of six months or both such fine and
imprisonment.
[amended by Act 22of 2001, with effect from the 10th September, 2002.]
(4) For the purposes of subsection (1), “letting” and “lease” include sub-letting and
sub-lease, respectively.