The General Assembly authorise that on the occasion of a full time teaching appointment to the Free Church College the choice of the following alternatives is available to appointees:
(a) The General Trustees are prepared to consider applications for limited finance, depending on the applicant’s circumstances, for house purchase purposes, in the event of such finance being unobtainable from other sources.
(b) (i) The General Trustees shall provide, as soon as practicable, accommodation for the appointee, on his written request; the suitability of such accommodation shall be determined by the General Trustees. As house purchase is to be regarded as the norm, renting shall be discouraged except in the case of older and single men.
(ii) The appointee shall pay a just rent as shall be fixed by the General Trustees having regard to the rent assessed by the Government Rent Officer, such assessed rent being for guidance only as to the optimum rent. The actual rent charged will be subject to negotiation between the General Trustees and the appointee in the light of all known relevant information and will, in any event, not exceed 20 per cent. of the appointee’s gross annual salary; such rent will be subject to regular review.
(iii) To the extent that the rent paid by the appointee is less than the notional interest that would otherwise be obtainable on whichever is the greater of, (a) the total sum invested by the General Trustees in the property at the date of occupancy or (b) the sum represented by the capital value of the property as revalued every third year, the deficiency shall be charged to the College Account.
(iv) The appointee shall accept the house from the General Trustees on lease (the General Trustees to be responsible for keeping the property wind and water tight) and agree to vacate it on termination of appointment or as otherwise agreed.