Australian Capital Territory Current Acts Australian Capital Territory Current Acts(1) A trustee may give a lease of land in possession for a term of not longer than—
(a) if the trustee has power to manage the land, or holds the land on trust for sale with an express power to postpone the sale—5 years; or
(b) in any other case—3 years.
(2) A trustee shall not be deemed to hold land with power to manage the land within the meaning of this section by reason only of the fact that it is proper to postpone sale in order to sell to the best advantage and in the meantime to manage the land.
(3) Any lease that a trustee is authorised to make under this section, or under the trust instrument or other instrument giving the authorisation, may—
(a) provide for rent increases at times stated in the lease; or
(b) give an option for renewal that does not extend the lease beyond the term for which the trustee is authorised to make the lease.
(4) A trustee making a lease under this section may execute such assurances and do such things as are necessary or proper to make the lease.
(5) A lease shall be deemed not to have been made under this section unless—
(a) it is made to take effect in possession not later than 3 months after its date; and
(b) it reserves the best rent that can reasonably be obtained, regard being had to the circumstances of the case, but, subject to subsection (6), without a fine being taken or the rent being made payable in advance except that the last payment of rent may be made payable on a day not more than 1 month before the expiration of the term of the lease; and
(c) it contains a condition of re-entry if the rent is not paid within a period (not longer than 30 days) provided in the lease; and
(d) in the case of a lease of land subject to the provisions of the Land Titles Act 1925
that would not, unless registered under that Act, be valid as against a person claiming an interest in the land by virtue of a dealing registered subsequent to the execution of the lease—it is registered under that Act; and
(e) in the case of a lease other than a lease referred to in paragraph (d)—it is registered under the Registration of Deeds Act 1957
; and
(f) the lease is executed by the lessee.
(6) Where a trustee makes a lease of land on which are erected premises that are licensed under the Liquor Act 2010
—
(a) a bonus or fine may be taken in respect of the lease; and
(b) if a bonus or fine is taken—the bonus or fine shall be dealt with by the trustee as though an amount ascertained by dividing the amount of the bonus or fine by the number of days contained in the term of the lease were rent received by the trustee under the lease in respect of each day of the term of the lease.
(7) The execution of a lease by the lessor is evidence, for the lessee and anyone deriving title from the lessee, of the execution of the lease by the lessee.
(8) A contract to make or accept a lease under this section may, if registered, be enforced by or against every person on whom the lease, if granted, would be binding.
(9) This section shall not apply to a bare trustee for persons all of whom are entitled in possession and are free of any incapacity.
(10) This section applies to a trust except so far as the contrary intention appears in the trust instrument.