Section 5 of The Rent Restriction Act CAP 296: Powers of court
(1) The tribunal shall have power to do all things which it is required or empowered to do by or under the provisions of this Act, and in particular shall have power—
(a) to assess the standard rent of any premises either on the application of any person interested or of its own motion;
(b) to fix in the case of any premises, at its discretion and in accordance with the requirements of justice, the date from which the standard rent is payable; (c) to apportion—
(i) payment of the rent of premises among tenants sharing the occupation thereof;
(ii) the rent payable in respect of different premises included in one composite tenancy;
(d) where the rent chargeable in respect of any premises includes a payment for water, light, conservancy, sweeper, watchman, or other service charge in addition to the standard rent, to fix the amount of such payment or service charge;
(e) where any premises are occupied by tenants who enjoy services in common, such as water, light, conservancy, sweeper or watchman, to apportion such charges to each of the tenants;
(f) subject to the provisions of section 14, to make either or both of the following orders—
(i) an order for the recovery of possession of premises whether in the occupation of a tenant or of any other person; and
(ii) an order for the recovery of arrears of rent, mesne profits and service charges;
(g) for the purpose of enabling additional buildings to be erected, to make orders permitting landlords (subject to the provisions of any written law) to excise vacant land out of premises where such a course is, in the opinion of the tribunal, desirable in the public interest;
(h) where the landlord fails to carry out any repairs for which he is liable, to order the landlord to carry out such repairs within such time as the tribunal may stipulate, and, if the landlord fails to comply with the order, and upon application by notice of motion by the tenant, to authorize the tenant to execute the repairs and to deduct the cost thereof from the rent;
(i) to permit the levy of distress for rent;
(j) to impose conditions in any order made by the tribunal under the provisions of this section;
(k) on the application by a tenant by notice of motion, to reduce the standard or recoverable rent of premises where the tribunal is satisfied that the landlord has failed to carry out such repairs to, or maintenance of, the premises as he has a duty to carry out either by agreement or under this Act;
(l) to order a refund of any sum paid by a tenant on account of rent, being a sum irrecoverable by the landlord under this Act:
Provided that no application may be made under this paragraph after a period of two years from the date of payment of the sum sought to be refunded, or, in the case of more than one payment, from the date of last payment;
(m) at any time, of its own motion, or for good cause shown on an application by any landlord or tenant, to reopen any proceedings in which it has given any decision, determined any question, or made any order, and to revoke, vary or amend such decision, determination or order, other than an order for the recovery of possession of premises or for the ejectment of a tenant therefrom which has been executed:
Provided that—
(i) nothing in this paragraph shall prejudice or affect the right of any person under section 8 to appeal from any such decision, determination or order, or from the revocation, variation or amendment of any such decision, determination or order;
(ii) the powers conferred on the tribunal by this paragraph shall not be exercised in respect of any decision, determination or order while an appeal therefrom is pending or in a manner inconsistent with or repugnant to the decision of the appellate tribunal on such an appeal;
(n) at any time, of its own motion, or for good cause shown on an application by any landlord or tenant, adjourn an application, or stay or suspend execution of any order of the tribunal, or postpone the date of possession, for such period or periods and subject to such conditions with regard to payment by the tenant of arrears of rent or otherwise as the tribunal thinks fit.
(2) A tribunal may appoint and employ valuers, inspectors, clerks and other staff for the better carrying out of the provisions of this Act:
Provided that, where a tribunal has deputed a valuer, inspector or other person to inspect or view any premises, any report made by him shall be communicated to the landlord and the tenant or their representatives.
(3) In respect of premises whereof there is no standard rent or whereof the standard rent does not exceed two hundred shillings a month the tribunal may from time to time delegate all or any of its powers under this Act to an administrative officer or any other person, so, however, that no such officer or other person shall be authorized to assess any standard rent at a sum exceeding two hundred shillings a month or to vary or amend any decision, determination or order so as to increase any standard rent to a sum exceeding two hundred shillings a month.
(4) A delegation under subsection (3) may be made in respect of any class or description of premises, including premises situate in any specified area or place, and may be made with respect to any premises, or class or description of premises, which may appear to the administrative officer or other person to be likely to be premises whereof the standard rent does not or will not exceed two hundred shillings a month; and several delegations may be made so as to be effective at the same time.
(5) A delegation effected under subsection (3) shall not prejudice or affect the power of the tribunal itself to exercise any of its powers under this Act in respect of any premises for the time being affected by the delegation.
(6) Where the tribunal has under subsection (3) delegated any of its powers to any person, that person shall have power to administer oaths, to order persons to attend and give evidence or to produce and give discovery and inspection of documents, in the same manner as in proceedings before the tribunal.
(7) For the purpose of subsection (3), a person occupying those premises in consideration of payment of rent shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be a tenant of the person to whom the rent is paid, and shall be protected by the provisions of this Act, notwithstanding that he shares the accommodation in those premises with any other person.
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- Section 6 - Investigation of complaints by the tribunal
(1) In addition to any other powers specifically conferred on it by this Act, the tribunal may investigate any complaint relating to the tenancy of premises made to it by either a tenant or the...
- Section 7 - Penalty for failure to comply with lawful order of the tribunal
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- Section 8 - Appeals
(1) Except as provided by subsection (2), every decision, determination and order of the tribunal under the provisions of this Act shall be final and conclusive, and no appeal shall lie therefrom to...
- Section 9 - Restriction on increasing rent
Subject to this Act, the landlord of premises shall not be entitled to recover any rent in respect thereof in excess of the standard rent, notwithstanding any tenancy agreement or lease executed...
- Section 10 - Penalty for accepting excess rent
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- Section 11 - Permitted increases in rent
(1) A landlord may, by notice in writing to the tenant a copy whereof shall be delivered to the tribunal, increase the rent of any premises as follows— (a) in the case of premises—
(i) upon which...
- Section 12 - Penalty for false statement in notice
If a notice served under the provisions of subsection (1) of section 11 contains any statement or representation which is false or misleading in any material respect, the landlord shall be guilty of...
- Section 13 - Limitation as to permitted increase in rent
(1) Nothing in this Act shall be taken to authorize any increase of rent except in respect of a period during which, but for the provisions of this Act, the landlord would be entitled to obtain...
- Section 14 - Restriction on right to possession
(1) No order for the recovery of possession of any premises or for the ejectment of a tenant therefrom shall be made unless—
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- Section 15 - Notices to quit
Where notice to quit is required to be given in respect of premises it shall be in writing, and where the required period of notice is not elsewhere specified in this Act it shall be not less than one...
- Section 16 - Restriction on levy of distress for rent
No distress for the rent of any premises shall be levied except with the leave of the tribunal.
- Section 17 - Restriction on premiums
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- Section 18 - Penalty for excessive charges for furnished lettings
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- Section 19 - Recovery of certain sums paid on account of rent
(1) Where any sum has been paid on account of any rent, being a sum which is, under the provisions of this Act, irrecoverable by the landlord, the sum so paid shall be recoverable from the landlord...
- Section 20 - Statement to be supplied as to standard rent
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- Section 21 - Rent book
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- Section 22 - Removal of furniture by landlord
(1) Where a landlord of any furnished premises wishes to remove the furniture or soft furnishings, or any of them, with which the premises were let, he shall apply to the tribunal for permission so to...
- Section 23 - Penalty for depriving tenant of service
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(a) any tenant is or may be, either...
- Section 24 - Conditions of statutory tenancy
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- Section 25 - Notification of estimate of market cost of construction or market value of land
Where, for the purpose of determining the standard rent, an estimate of the cost of construction or market value has been made by order of the tribunal, the tribunal shall forthwith send written...
- Section 26 - Repairs
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- Section 27 - Restriction on right to assign or sublet premises
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- Section 28 - Subletting by tenant
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the tenant of any dwelling- house may—
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- Section 29 - Penalty for subjecting tenant to annoyance
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- Section 31 - Enforcement of orders
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- Section 32 - Service of documents
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- Section 33 - Compensation in case of frivolous or vexatious applications
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- Section 35 - Proceedings
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- Section 36 - Regulations
(1) The Cabinet Secretary may make such regulations, and give such directions, as he may think fit for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of this Act.
(2) Without prejudice to the...
- Section 37 - Rules
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