Land Act , 1931

PART I. FINANCE.

1 Land bonds issued under the Land Act, 1929.

1.—The Land Bond Act, 1925, shall apply to land bonds created and issued by the Minister for Finance under the powers conferred upon him by sub-section (2) of section 5 of the Land Act, 1929, for the purposes of that section in like manner as it applies to land bonds created and issued by the said Minister for the purposes of the Land Act, 1923.

2 Exemption from stamp duty.

2.—No stamp duty shall be chargeable or payable on any agreement, conveyance, deed of charge, memorial, or other instrument (including instruments executed but not stamped before the passing of this Act) made for the purposes of or in connection with the sale by the Land Commission under or in pursuance of the Land Purchase Acts of land vested in them nor on any such instrument required by the Land Commission to be made for securing the repayment of moneys advanced by them.

3 Amendment of section 1 of the Land Act, 1923.

3.—(1) Sub-section (3) of section 1 of the Land Act, 1923, as amended by section 3 of the Land Bond Act, 1925, shall be construed and have effect as if the words “in satisfaction of death duties or” now contained in that sub-section were omitted therefrom.

(2) In addition to the several sums required by sub-section (5) of section 1 of the Land Act, 1923, as amended by section 3 of the Land Bond Act, 1925, to be set aside in the land bond fund for the purpose of the redemption of bonds, there shall for the purpose of such redemption be set aside in the land bond fund, at the close of every half-year ending on the 1st day of May or the 1st day of November until all land bonds issued under the Land Act, 1923, or any Act amending that Act have been redeemed, all sums paid into the land bond fund during such half-year by the Land Commission under this Act for the redemption of land bonds.

4 Annuities on the resale of land purchased by the late Congested Districts Board.

4.—(1) Every advance made by the Land Commission after the passing of this Act on the resale of land (other than land to which the next following section of this Act applies) which was purchased by the late Congested Districts Board out of the funds at its disposal shall be repayable by a purchase annuity calculated at the rate of three and one-quarter per cent. and payable at such times as the Minister for Finance shall prescribe.

(2) Where before the passing of this Act an advance was made by the late Congested Districts Board or by the Land Commission on the resale of land which was purchased by the said Board out of the funds at its disposal, the Land Commission may, whenever they think it expedient so to do, cause an account to be taken of the sum then outstanding and unpaid in respect of such advance and may charge such land with a purchase annuity calculated at the rate of three and one-quarter per cent, per annum for the repayment of the sum so outstanding in lieu and satisfaction of the annuity theretofore payable in respect of such advance.

(3) All moneys collected in respect of purchase annuities created under this section shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall appoint by regulations made by him under this Act.

5 Proceeds of the sale of certain lands of the late Congested Districts Board.

5.—(1) All moneys, funds, and land bonds which are now in or shall hereafter come to the hands of the Land Commission and which either represent the proceeds of the sale by the late Congested Districts Board or the Land Commission of land to which this section applies or represent the redemption price of head-rents or other superior interests acquired by the said Board shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall direct.

(2) This section applies to land which was purchased by the late Congested Districts Board out of the funds at its disposal or was acquired by that Board otherwise than by means of advances from the Irish land purchase fund and which was sold by the said Board as an ordinary vendor either by means of the Land Purchase Acts (whether such sale was completed before the 9th day of August 1923 or was subsequently completed as a purchase agreement pending on that date) or otherwise than by means of the said Acts.

6 Liability of county boroughs in respect of the guarantee fund.

6.—Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (3) of section 22 of the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1891, the share of a county borough in the local taxation grants shall be available (in accordance with that Act and regulations made thereunder and in like manner as if such county borough were a county) for the purposes of the guarantee fund in respect of land which has since the passing of that Act or shall hereafter become included within such county borough and is now or shall hereafter be subject to a land purchase annuity.

7 Disposal of certain purchase annuities.

7.—Where the Land Commission have resold or shall hereafter resell a parcel of land under the Irish Land (Provision for Sailors and Soldiers) Act, 1919, at an enhanced price and such enhanced price is due in whole or in part to expenditure on improvements on or in respect of such land made by the Land Commission after the 1st day of April 1922 (whether before or after the passing of this Act) out of moneys provided or recouped by the British Government, so much of the purchase annuity paid into the purchase annuities fund or the land bond fund (as the case may be) in respect of such price as is attributable to such expenditure shall be paid or credited to the British Government in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall appoint by regulations made by him under this section and such regulations may prescribe the method of ascertaining the proportion of the purchase annuity attributable to such expenditure.

8 Provision of moneys for the execution of this Act.

8.—All moneys required by the Land Commission for the exercise of their powers under this Act or otherwise for the execution of this Act shall, save in so far as such moneys are otherwise provided for by this Act, be paid to such extent as shall be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

PART II. VESTING OF HOLDINGS.

9 Publication of lists of vested holdings.

9.—(1) The Land Commission shall from time to time publish in the prescribed manner lists (in this Act referred to as lists of vested holdings) of tenanted land consisting of holdings in respect of which particulars have been furnished in pursuance of sub-section (1) of section 40 of the Land Act, 1923, and shall in every such list declare in respect of the tenanted land comprised in such list the appointed day (which may be previous to, coincident with, or subsequent to the date of the publication of such list) for such land.

(2) Immediately upon the publication of a list of vested holdings, tenanted land comprised in such list shall (as the case may require) become or be deemed to have become vested in the Land Commission on the appointed day declared in such list for such land.

(3) Every tenant of a holding included in a list of vested holdings (whether such tenant is or is not named in such list) or, where the tenant of a holding is named in such list and is dead on the appointed day for such holding, the personal representative of such tenant shall be deemed to have entered on the appointed day into a subsequent purchase agreement for the purchase of such holding from the Land Commission at the standard price and sub-sections (2), (3), and (5) of section 28 of the Land Act, 1923, shall apply in respect of such holding in like manner as they apply in respect of the holdings mentioned in those sub-sections save that such application shall not be prevented or limited by sub-section (6) of the said section 28.

(4) All sums which by virtue of sub-sections (2), (3), and (5) of section 28 of the Land Act, 1923, as applied by this section become payable in respect of a holding included in a list of vested holdings shall be charged on such holding in priority to all existing interests and incumbrances affecting such holding whether created before or after the appointed day.

(5) Sub-sections (2), (3), and (4) of section 40 of the Land Act, 1923, and sub-section (1) of section 17 of the Land Act, 1927, shall not apply to a holding included in a list of vested holdings.

(6) Sub-section (7) of section 17 of the Land Act, 1927, shall apply in respect of a holding or part of a holding included in a list of vested holdings in respect of which the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland certify to the Land Commission in accordance with that sub-section either before or after the appointed day but before such holding is vested under this Act in a tenant.

(7) Sub-section (2) of section 73 of the Land Act, 1923, shall apply in respect of holdings included in a list of vested holdings with the modification that the declaration by the Land Commission mentioned in paragraph (a) of the proviso to the said sub-section may be made either before or after the appointed day.

10 Amendment of lists of vested holdings.

10.—(1) A list of vested holdings may be amended by the Land Commission with the consent of all the parties concerned or, subject to the provisions of this section, without such consent.

(2) Where the Land Commission propose to amend a list of vested holdings otherwise than on consent of the parties, the Land Commission shall serve in the prescribed manner on all the parties concerned notice of the proposal to make such amendment and shall afford to all such parties an opportunity to object to such proposed amendment.

(3) Every objection duly made to a proposed amendment of a list of vested holdings shall be considered and decided by the Land Commissioners other than the Judicial Commissioner and there shall be a right of appeal to the Judicial Commissioner from the decision of the other Land Commissioners on any such objection and the decision of the Judicial Commissioner on such appeal shall be final, save that an appeal shall lie on questions of law only from such decision of the Judicial Commissioner to the Supreme Court.

11 Retention of holdings in a list of vested holdings.

11.—(1) Where a holding included in a list of vested holdings would be a retained holding within the meaning of sub-section (6) of section 28 of the Land Act, 1923, if that sub-section applied to it, such holding may, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, be retained by the Land Commission.

(2) Sections 29, 33, and 34 of the Land Act, 1923, shall apply to holdings retained by the Land Commission under this section as fully as they apply to the retained holdings mentioned in those sections and accordingly the Land Commission shall have in respect of holdings retained by them under this section, all the powers conferred on them by the said sections.

12 Vesting orders in respect of vested holdings.

12.—(1) Where the Land Commission has published a list of vested holdings, the Land Commission shall from time to time, after making such inquiry as they may consider necessary as to the accuracy of the particulars stated in such list of the holdings included therein and as to the existence of rights or easements affecting such holdings, publish in the prescribed manner a vesting order vesting in accordance with this section one or more of such holdings in the purchaser or purchasers thereof.

(2) Every vesting order made under this section shall specify separately every holding thereby vested and shall state in respect of every such holding such matters as are required by this section to be so stated and such other particulars as may be necessary for the purposes of the registration of such holding under the Local Registration of Title (Ireland) Act, 1891.

(3) Every vesting order made under this section shall be expressed and shall operate to vest every holding specified therein in fee simple in the person named in such order as the person appearing to the Land Commission to be in occupation of such holding as tenant thereof or nominated by the Land Commission under section 67 of the Land Act, 1923, to represent the tenant of such holding and shall also be expressed and shall operate so to vest such holding in such person subject to the following annuities, sums, and payments, that is to say:—

(a) the standard purchase annuity for such holding; and

(b) the additional annuity (if any) in respect of compounded arrears of rent added to the purchase-money; and

(c) an additional sum (if any) equivalent to a proportion of the said annuities in respect of the period between the gale day on which the first instalment of the said annuities shall become payable and the next day on which dividends on land bonds are payable; and

(d) any sum which may be due to the Land Commission by the tenant in respect of the annual sum equivalent to the standard purchase annuity of the holding stated in the list of vested holdings including the proportion of such annual sum for the period between the gale day on which the first instalment of such annual sum became payable and the day on which dividends on land bonds are payable next after the appointed day; and

(e) to any sum which may be due to the Land Commission by the tenant in respect of payment in lieu of rent or in respect of repayments required by this Act to be made by such tenant to the Land Commission.

(4) The Land Commission shall, in respect of every vesting order made under this section, afford to all parties concerned an opportunity for making objections to such order and the Land Commissioners other than the Judicial Commissioner shall consider and decide every such objection duly made, and there shall be a right of appeal to the Judicial Commissioner from every decision of the other Commissioners on any such objection and the decision of the Judicial Commissioner on any such appeal shall be final, save that an appeal shall lie on questions of law only from such decision of the Judicial Commissioner to the Supreme Court.

13 Dismissal of purchase proceedings in respect of certain vested holdings.

13.—(1) Whenever it appears to the Land Commission that a holding included in a list of vested holdings is not a holding to which sub-section (1) of section 24 of the Land Act, 1923, as amended and extended by the Land Act, 1927, applies, the Land Commissioners other than the Judicial Commissioner shall, after serving notice in the prescribed manner on all parties concerned, make such order in the matter as the justice of the case shall require.

(2) There shall be a right of appeal to the Judicial Commissioner from every order made by the other Land Commissioners under the foregoing sub-section of this section and the decision of the Judicial Commissioner on any such appeal shall be final, save that an appeal shall lie on questions of law only from such decision of the Judicial Commissioner to the Supreme Court.

(3) When the purchase proceedings in relation to a holding are dismissed by an order made by the Land Commission under this section, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(a) the Land Commission shall pay into the land bond fund such sum as shall be required to redeem the land bonds issued for the purchase of such holding (including the contribution of the State to the standard price); and

(b) all parties shall be restored in all respects to their mutual rights and liabilities in relation to such holding as such rights and liabilities existed immediately before the passing of the Land Act, 1923; and

(c) the tenant shall be bound to pay to the Land Commission all arrears of payment in lieu of rent or of the annual sum equivalent to the standard purchase annuity and such arrears shall be deemed to be a charge on such holding in priority to all existing interests and incumbrances affecting the tenancy therein; and

(d) the tenant shall be entitled to credit for all moneys paid by him in respect of such holding on account of payment in lieu of rent or annual sum equivalent to the standard purchase annuity as against rent or other payment due by him to his landlord in respect of such holding; and

(e) all moneys paid by the Land Commission under this sub-section shall be recoverable by them in the manner provided by this Act; and

(f) the Land Commission shall have for the recovery of moneys payable under this sub-section to them by the tenant the same remedies as they have for the recovery of unpaid instalments of purchase annuities.

14 Holdings alleged to be wrongly omitted from a list of vested holdings.

14.—(1) A tenant who claims to be entitled to the benefits of section 24 of the Land Act, 1923, as amended and extended by the Land Act, 1927, and alleges that his holding has not been included in the particulars furnished by his landlord under sub-section (1) of section 40 of the Land Act, 1923, to the Land Commission and is not included in any published list of vested holdings, may apply in the prescribed manner to the Land Commission for an order requiring the said landlord to furnish to the Land Commission in accordance with the said sub-section (1) particulars of such holding.

(2) Every application under this section shall be heard and decided by the Land Commissioners other than the Judicial Commissioner and there shall be a right of appeal to the Judicial Commissioner from the decision of the other Land Commissioners on any such application and the decision of the Judicial Commissioner on such appeal shall be final, save that an appeal shall lie on questions of law only from such decision of the Judicial Commissioner to the Supreme Court.

15 Subtenancies on vested holdings.

15.—(1) Where the whole or part of a holding which is included in a list of vested holdings is at the date of the publication of such list sublet otherwise than for the purpose of temporary depasturage, agistment, or conacre, or for temporary convenience, or to meet a temporary necessity, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(a) the Land Commission shall (save as is hereinafter otherwise authorised) declare that the subtenants on such holding are to be deemed to be the tenants of the respective portions of such holding in their several and separate occupations and that the said respective portions (hereinafter referred to as separate holdings) of such holding are to be deemed to be separate holdings;

(b) each of the said subtenants shall be deemed to have entered on the date of the said declaration into a subsequent purchase agreement for the purchase of the said separate holding in his separate occupation;

(c) the standard purchase annuities for the said separate holdings shall be ascertained in the like manner as standard purchase annuities for tenancies are ascertained under the Land Act, 1923, as amended by the Land Act, 1929;