Re Lewis

In the case of Re Lewis, the applicant, Sheila Lewis, sought the determination of the unimproved value for the purpose of converting her special lease to freehold tenure. The land in question was a portion of Lot 112 on Plan CK 3559, situated approximately 12 kilometres north of Torbanlea in the parish of Walsh. The land was unsurveyed, and the dispute centered on whether the purchase price should include the costs of surveying the land, which was deemed necessary for obtaining a freehold title. The Court was tasked with deciding this valuation issue in accordance with the provisions of the Land Act 1962.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the purchase price for the land, in its unimproved state, should include the costs of surveying the land. The Court had to consider the lease's condition that required the lessee to pay for any necessary survey and the statutory requirement under the Land Act 1962 for a purchasing price based on the assumption that the land is fee simple and surveyed. The lessee argued that the costs of survey should be included in the purchase price, while the Department of Lands contended that the price should be determined based on surveyed land without additional costs for the survey.

The Court determined that the unimproved value of the land should be based on the assumption that it is surveyed land, as fee simple cannot be obtained without a survey. The lease explicitly stated that the lessee would bear the cost of any required survey. The Court found that the lessee's argument that the test of value was harsh was not persuasive, given the lease's terms and the practical considerations in the marketplace. The Court concluded that the unimproved value of the land should be set at $45,000, reflecting its value as surveyed land, and that any survey costs should be borne by the lessee.

The Court's final order was that the unimproved value of the area subject to the reference was determined to be Forty-five thousand dollars ($45,000).