LAND ACT, 1953

AN ACT TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE LAND PURCHASE ACTS. [7th July, 1953.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—

1 Short title, construction and citation.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Land Act, 1953.

• (2) This Act shall be construed as one with the Land Purchase Acts and may be cited with those Acts.

2 Rules and regulations.

2.—(1) The power of making rules conferred by subsections (1) and (2) of section 3 of the Land Act, 1933, shall extend to and be exercisable for making rules for carrying into effect the provisions (other than provisions relating to land purchase finance) of this Act.

• (2) The Minister for Finance may make rules and regulations for carrying into effect the provisions of this Act relating to land purchase finance, and may by such rules or regulations adapt to the requirements of this Act any provisions relating to land purchase finance contained in any Act passed before this Act.

3 Payments and expenses.

3.—The payments made and expenses incurred by the Minister for Lands and by the Land Commission in giving effect to this Act and in the administration thereof shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

4 Land bonds—termination of restrictions on rate of interest etc.

4.—(1) Section 4 of the Land Bond Act, 1934, is hereby amended—

• (a) by the deletion in subsection (1) of “(not less than three nor more than four per cent. per annum)”, and

• (b) by the deletion in subsection (3) of “(within the limits imposed by this section)”.

• (2) In relation to any case in which an advance is made or purchase money is paid by means of an issue of land bonds created after the passing of this Act, each of the references to rates specified in Part I of the Schedule to this Act shall be construed as a reference to the rate at which the purchase annuity or other annual sum is fixed under subsection (6) of section 4 of the Land Bond Act, 1934, for the repayment of such advance or purchase money.

• (3) In relation to any case in which an advance is made or purchase money is paid by means of an issue of land bonds created under section 4 of the Land Bond Act, 1934, or that section as amended by this Act—

• (a) each of the references to rates specified in Part II of the Schedule to this Act shall be construed as a reference to the rate at which such land bonds bear interest, and

• (b) each of the references to rates specified in Part III of the Schedule to this Act shall be construed as a reference to the rate of sinking fund fixed under subsection (5) of the said section 4 in respect of such land bonds.

• (4) Subsection (3) of this section shall be deemed to have come into operation on the passing of the Land Bond Act, 1934.

• (5) Where any land which is not subject to a purchase annuity or annual sum equivalent to a purchase annuity is vested in the Land Commission under section 28 or section 30 of the Land Act, 1950, any advance made by the Land Commission to a purchaser of such land or any part thereof shall be repaid by means of a purchase annuity calculated at such rate as the Minister for Finance directs.

• (6) Where after the passing of this Act additional land bonds are issued in consequence of an increase in any standard purchase annuity or land bonds are lodged pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 15 of the Land Act, 1931, such land bonds shall be land bonds bearing the same rate of interest as the land bonds originally issued to the credit of the relevant estate.

5 Payment in certain cases in land bonds of first series created after passing of this Act.

5.—Where the price of untenanted land, or the resumption price of a holding or part of a holding, agreed upon or fixed before the passing of this Act is payable in land bonds which have not been issued before the first series of land bonds is created after the passing of this Act, then, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any agreement or enactment or in any order of the Land Commission or the Appeal Tribunal, the price or the resumption price shall be paid by means of an issue of land bonds of that series.

6 Issue of additional land bonds in certain cases.

6.—(1) Where, before the first series of land bonds is created after the passing of this Act, land bonds have been issued in any matter in respect of the price of untenanted land or the resumption price of a holding or part of a holding and—

• (a) possession of such land, holding or part has been taken by the Land Commission after the 11th day of December, 1952, or such land or the tenant's interest in such holding or part vested or is deemed to have vested in the Land Commission after that date, or

• (b) such land vested in the Land Commission pursuant to section 30 of the Land Act, 1933, or that section as extended by section 30 of the Land Act, 1936, before the passing of this Act and the price thereof is agreed upon or fixed after such passing,

the Land Commission shall in such matter make an additional advance and issue additional land bonds equal in nominal amount (to the nearest pound) to such percentage of the price or the resumption price as the Minister for Finance directs and bearing the same rate of interest as the land bonds already issued.

• (2) Where, before the first series of land bonds is created after the passing of this Act, land bonds have been issued in any matter in respect of the price of untenanted land (not being land in relation to which subsection (1) of this section applies) and such price is, pursuant to an application for the redetermination thereof, increased after the passing of this Act, the Land Commission shall in such matter make an additional advance and issue additional land bonds equal in nominal amount (to the nearest pound) to such percentage of the amount by which the price is increased as the Minister for Finance directs and bearing the same rate of interest as the land bonds already issued.

• (3) Where, pursuant to subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section, additional land bonds are issued in any matter—

• (a) there shall be payable by the Land Commission to the person entitled to the receipt of the rents and profits of the untenanted land immediately before possession thereof was taken by the Land Commission or to the person entitled to the resumption price of the holding or the part of a holding a sum equal to interest (less income tax) on the additional land bonds from the date on which such land or the tenant's interest in such holding or part vested or is deemed to have vested in the Land Commission or the date on which possession of such land, holding or part was obtained by the Land Commission (whichever is the later) to the date of the issue of the additional land bonds and that sum shall be in lieu of such (if any) interest as may be appropriate under subsection (1) of section 2 of the Land Act, 1923, and

• (b) on the allocation of the additional land bonds in such matter due regard shall be had to the respective interests of all persons entitled to claim (whether before or after the passing of this Act) in such matter and such land bonds shall be distributed as the justice of the case may require by the Judicial Commissioner.

• (4) Such sums as may from time to time be required to pay the interest and sinking fund on the additional land bonds issued in pursuance of this section shall, subject to the approval of the Minister for Finance, be paid to the Land Commission out of moneys to be provided by the Oireachtas.

7 Land bonds—increase of limit on total amount.

7.—Subsection (1) of section 6 of the Land Bond Act, 1934, is hereby amended by the substitution of “fifteen million pounds” for “ten million pounds”.

8 Further amendments of Land Bond Act, 1934.

8.—(1) Subsection (2) of section 3 of the Land Bond Act, 1934, is hereby amended by the insertion after “shall” of “(subject to the provisions of the next section)”.

• (2) Subsection (2) of section 4 of the Land Bond Act, 1934, is hereby amended by the insertion before “during” of “or deemed to be fixed”.

• (3) Subsection (2) of section 4 of the Land Bond Act, 1934, is hereby amended by the addition at the end of the subsection of “except in relation to advances and purchase moneys required to be made or paid by means of an issue of land bonds bearing the same rate of interest as land bonds previously issued”.

• (4) Subsections (1) and (3) of this section shall be deemed to have come into operation on the passing of the Land Bond Act, 1934.

9 Amendment of section 30 of Land Act, 1933.

9.—(1) Where the Land Commission, pursuant to subsection (1) of section 30 of the Land Act, 1933, or that subsection as extended by subsection (1) of section 30 of the Land Act, 1936, declare the appointed day for untenanted lands and the price at which it is proposed to purchase such lands, that price and any price subsequently agreed upon or fixed for such lands shall, for the purpose of determining the relevant series of land bonds, be deemed to be fixed on the date of the declaration.

• (2) Subsection (3) of section 30 of the Land Act, 1933 (including that subsection as applied by subsection (2) of section 30 of the Land Act, 1936) is hereby amended by the insertion before “for the purchase” of “(bearing the same rate of interest as the land bonds issued in respect of the provisional price)”.

• (3) Subsection (2) of this section shall be deemed to have come into operation on the passing of the Land Act, 1933.

10 Purchase money deemed fixed on appointed day in certain cases.

10.—Where after the passing of this Act a holding is included in a list of vested holdings published under section 9 of the Land Act, 1931, the purchase money to be paid in relation to the holding shall, for the purpose of determining the relevant series of land bonds, be deemed to be fixed on the appointed day declared in such list.

11 Untenanted land—extension of time for application to redetermine price.

11.—(1) Subsection (2) of section 5 of the Land Act, 1950, is hereby amended by the deletion of “within six months after the passing of this Act” in paragraph (i) and the substitution therefor of “before the 1st day of November, 1953, or the day which is six months after the taking of possession of the land by the Land Commission (whichever day is the later)”.

• (2) An application may be made under subsection (2) of section 5 of the Land Act, 1950, as amended by subsection (1) of this section, notwithstanding that, in the particular case in question, an application under that subsection was made and not granted before the passing of this Act.

12 Possession and vesting of tenants' interests in cases of resumption.

12.—(1) Where the Land Commission have, before the passing of this Act, resumed a holding, the tenant's interest shall be deemed to have vested, discharged from the claims against such interest, in the Land Commission on the date on which they took possession of the holding, or the date on which they were authorised to resume the holding where that date was later than the date on which they took possession, and those claims shall be deemed to have on the date of vesting ceased as against the holding and become attached to the resumption price of the holding, that is to say, the compensation paid or to be paid therefor by the Land Commission, in like manner as they were attached to the holding immediately before the date of vesting.

• (2) Where the Land Commission have, whether before or after the passing of this Act, been authorised to resume a holding, they shall be entitled to enter upon and take possession of the holding and—

• (a) the provisions of section 19 of the Land Act, 1927, as amended by this Act, shall apply to the holding in like manner as they apply to the lands vested in the Land Commission referred to in that section, and

• (b) the tenant's interest shall vest, discharged from the claims against such interest, in the Land Commission on the date on which they take possession of the holding, or the date on which they have been authorised to resume the holding where that date is later than the date on which they take possession, and those claims shall on the date of vesting cease as against the holding and become attached to the resumption price of the holding, that is to say, the compensation to be paid therefor by the Land Commission, in like manner as they were attached to the holding immediately before the date of vesting.

• (3) A certificate under the common seal of the Land Commission certifying that the tenant's interest in a specified holding vested or is deemed to have vested in the Land Commission on a specified date (being the date on which the Land Commission took possession of the holding, or the date on which the Land Commission were authorised to resume the holding where that date was later than the date on which they took possession) shall be prima facie evidence of the fact so certified.

• (4) All powers exercisable under the Land Purchase Acts in relation to a superior interest may be exercised in relation to a claim within the meaning of this section.

• (5) In this section—

“holding” includes part of a holding and, when used in the expressions “against the holding” and “attached to the holding”, includes the tenant's interest;

“tenant's interest” includes interests of joint tenants and tenants in common;

“claims” includes the claim of any person interested in respect of any incumbrance, annuity, rent, rentcharge or otherwise howsoever, save that it does not include any public right, the interest of any sub-tenant or of any person having a claim upon that interest or a claim in respect of any easement, right or appurtenance mentioned in section 34 of the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1896;

“resumption price” means resumption price whether fixed or to be fixed and, in the latter case, includes interest payable by virtue of subsection (4) of section 39 of the Land Act, 1939.

• (6) Nothing in this section shall affect—

• (a) sporting rights as defined in subsection (2) of section 13 of the Irish Land Act, 1903, fisheries appurtenant to a holding within the meaning of subsection (1) of section 3 of the Land Act, 1929, or water rights, where such sporting rights, fisheries or water rights are not in the possession or enjoyment of the tenant at the date on which possession of the holding is obtained by the Land Commission, or

• (b) any right to water power in actual use by the tenant at the date on which possession of the holding is obtained by the Land Commission, except where such use ceased on that date, or

• (c) any mine or quarry being worked or developed by the tenant or his lessee at the date on which possession of the holding is obtained by the Land Commission, or

• (d) any right of mining or taking minerals or digging or searching for minerals on or under a holding,

provided that this subsection shall not apply to any stone, gravel, sand or clay.

13 Amendment of section 31 of Land Act, 1939.

13.—(1) Subsection (1) of section 13 of the Land Act, 1939, is hereby amended—

• (i) by the insertion in paragraph (b) of “or the date of the vesting of such land, tenancy, easement, or right (where that date is earlier than the date of such lodgment) in the Land Commission” before “to the date”, and

• (ii) by the insertion after paragraph (c) of:

“and

• (d) all interest paid by the Land Commission to the credit of the relevant matter before such allocation in respect of any period before the Land Commission got or gets possession or user of the said land, tenancy, easement or right.”

• (2) Any reference to purchase money in section 13 of the Land Act, 1939, or that section as amended by this section, shall be construed as including a reference to purchase money lodged in respect of—

• (a) the provisional price referred to in section 30 of the Land Act, 1933, or that section as extended by section 30 of the Land Act, 1936, other than any part thereof referable to land bonds redeemed by the Land Commission, and

• (b) the additional advance (if any) made pursuant to section 30 of the Land Act, 1933, or that section as extended by section 30 of the Land Act, 1936, or as amended by this Act.

• (3) Subsection (2) of this section shall be deemed to have come into operation on the passing of the Land Act, 1939.

• (4) Any moneys payable to the Land Commission under section 13 of the Land Act, 1939, or that section as amended by this section, shall, notwithstanding anything contained in that section, be obtained by the sale of sufficient of the land bonds lodged (whether before or after the passing of this Act) to the credit of the relevant matter to produce an amount equal to such moneys.

14 Payments to Land Commission on allocation where there is delay in obtaining possession in certain cases of resumption.

14.—(1) Where the resumption price of a holding or part of a holding has been or is lodged (whether before or after the passing of this Act) in cash to the credit of the relevant matter before the Land Commission have got or get possession of the holding or part, the Land Commission shall be entitled to be paid out of the resumption price (including any interest thereon) on the allocation thereof—

• (a) all costs and expenses incurred by the Land Commission in getting possession (whether before or after the date of the lodgment) of the holding or part, and

• (b) interest, at such rate, not exceeding six per cent, per annum, as the Minister for Finance directs, on the resumption price from the date of the lodgment to the date on which the Land Commission got or get possession of the holding or part.

• (2) All moneys payable to the Land Commission under this section shall be so payable in priority to all other claims except payments to a local authority under section 18 of the Land Act, 1927, as extended by this Act, on foot of arrears of rates in respect of the relevant holding or part of a holding.

15 Extension of section 18 of Land Act, 1927, and section 41 of Land Act, 1931.

15.—(1) Where the resumption price of a holding or part of a holding resumed by the Land Commission (whether before or after the passing of this Act) is payable in cash, the payment referred to in subsection (4) of section 18 of the Land Act, 1927, may, where interest on the resumption price is not available for such payment, be paid in priority to all other claims out of the resumption price on the allocation thereof.

• (2) Where a holding or part of a holding has been or shall here-after be resumed by the Land Commission and such holding or part was or is then rated in conjunction with other land, the provisions of section 41 of the Land Act, 1931, shall apply in relation to the holding or part in like manner as those provisions apply in relation to untenanted land, but with the substitution of “the day on which the Land Commission enter into occupation” for “the appointed day”.

16 Congested districts holdings not listed under section 23 of Land Act, 1931.

16.—In the case of every congested districts holding within the meaning of sections 22 and 23 of the Land Act, 1931—

• (a) the whole of the purchase money of which is to be advanced by the Land Commission, and

• (b) which has not been comprised in a list of congested districts holdings published under section 23 of the Land Act, 1931, and

• (c) in respect of which the tenant or allottee has signed (whether before or after the passing of this Act) an agreement or undertaking to purchase,

such holding, unless it has been given by the Land Commission in exchange for a holding comprised or deemed to be comprised in a list of congested districts holdings published under the said section 23, shall be deemed to have been so comprised on the gale day next after whichever of the following dates is the latest:

• (i) the date of the said agreement or undertaking to purchase, or

• (ii) the date on which possession of such holding is given to the tenant or allottee, or

• (iii) the date of the passing of this Act,

and the provisions of the Land Purchase Acts (including this Act) in relation to holdings comprised in a list of congested districts holdings published under the said section 23 shall apply in relation to such holding accordingly.

17 Vesting orders in certain cases.

17.—(1) Where any holding has, whether before or after the passing of this Act, been retained by the Land Commission, the Land Commission may—

• (a) in case the holding has, whether before or after such passing, been included in a list of vested holdings published under section 9 of the Land Act, 1931, publish a vesting order under section 12 of that Act in respect of the holding or any part thereof, and

• (b) in any other case, publish a vesting order under section 28 of the Land Act, 1931, in respect of the holding or any part thereof.

• (2) In the case of any land which has, whether before or after the passing of this Act, been re-arranged by the Land Commission or of which the Land Commission have, whether before or after such passing, become the registered owners, the Land Commission may publish a vesting order under section 28 of the Land Act, 1931, in respect of such land or any part thereof.

• (3) Where any land comprised in pursuance of this section in a vesting order is stated therein to be given in exchange for any other land, the provisions of section 29 of the Land Act, 1931, shall apply in like manner as in the case of a vested holding and an original holding and, for that purpose, in that section the references to tenant shall be construed as including references to an owner or occupier, the reference to surrender shall be construed as including a reference to transfer and the reference to rent shall be construed as including a reference to money.

• (4) Where any sum is payable to the Land Commission in respect of any land or part thereof which is comprised in pursuance of this section in a vesting order, the sum may be apportioned, or the land or part discharged therefrom, by the vesting order as the Land Commission consider proper.

• (5) Any reference to a new holding in section 8 of the Land Act, 1936, and sections 34 and 35 of the Land Act, 1939, shall be construed as including a reference to land comprised in pursuance of this section in a vesting order.

• (6) Nothing in this section shall prejudice the rights and powers of the Land Commission in relation to the resumption, acquisition or purchase of any land or interest therein.

18 Limited administrators and nominated representatives.

18.—(1) In addition to the persons referred to in subsection (4) of section 54 of the Land Act, 1939, that section shall also apply to every person who is—

• (a) the tenant of a holding comprised in a list of vested holdings published under section 9 of the Land Act, 1931, or deemed to have been comprised in a list of congested districts holdings by virtue of section 16 of this Act, or the tenant of a retained holding, or

• (b) the owner or occupier of a parcel of untenanted land the subject matter of an application under section 44 of the Land Act, 1931, or section 37 of the Land Act, 1936, or under either of those sections as amended or extended by any enactment.

• (2) The Land Commission shall be entitled to revoke or cancel the appointment of an administrator or the nomination of any person to represent a person dead, absent or under a disability made (whether before or after the passing of this Act) by the Land Commission and, from time to time as occasion may require, to appoint or nominate under section 54 of the Land Act, 1939, some other person in lieu of any person appointed or nominated by the Land Commission who has died or whose appointment or nomination is revoked or cancelled by the Land Commission.

• (3) No nomination shall be made after the passing of this Act under section 67 of the Land Act, 1923, and no appointment shall be made after such passing under subsection (11) of section 42 of the Land Act, 1933.

• (4) It is hereby declared that any person appointed as administrator or nominated to represent a person dead, absent or under a disability by the Land Commission (whether so appointed or nominated before or after the passing of this Act) has and always had full power to transfer or otherwise deal with, for the purposes of proceedings under the Land Purchase Acts (including this Act), land registered under the Registration of Title Acts, 1891 and 1942, notwithstanding anything contained in those Acts.

19 Execution.

19.—(1) Subsection (1) of section 17 of the Land Act, 1936, shall apply in relation to the execution of an order issued by the Lay Commissioners to levy any amount in like manner as if the order were a warrant, in which money of that amount was certified to be due, issued by the Land Commission under section 28 of the Land Act, 1933.

• (2) Subsection (1) of section 17 of the Land Act, 1939, is hereby amended by the insertion of “or of any part thereof remaining unpaid” after “of such costs and expenses”.

• (3) In section 19, section 31, section 37 and section 54 of the Land Act, 1927, and in subsection (2) of section 17 of the Land Act, 1939, “sheriff” shall be substituted for “under-sheriff” wherever the latter word occurs in the case of a county or county borough for which there is for the time being a sheriff and “county registrar” shall be substituted therefor in all other cases.

20 Amendment of section 25 of Land Act, 1931.

20.—(1) The power to amend conferred by subsection (1) of section 25 of the Land Act, 1931, shall include power to cancel or strike out the listing of a congested districts holding or holding on untenanted land.

• (2) The power to amend conferred by subsection (1) of section 25 of the Land Act, 1931, as amended by subsection (1) of this section, extends to—

• (a) any parcel of untenanted land deemed to be listed pursuant to section 33 of the Land Act, 1936, or pursuant to that section as amended by section 21 of the Land Act, 1939, and

• (b) any holding deemed to be listed pursuant to section 16 of this Act.

• (3) Subsection (1) of this section shall be deemed to have come into operation on the passing of the Land Act, 1931.

21 Amendment of section 19 of Land Act, 1933.

21.—Section 19 of the Land Act, 1933, is hereby amended by the deletion in subsection (2) of “to an owner of land for the repurchase of such land otherwise than under section 11 of the Land Act, 1927” and the substitution therefor of “consequent upon an application for an advance for the repurchase of land otherwise than under section 11 of the Land Act, 1927, and whether made to the applicant therefor or to any other person”.

22 Amendment of section 5 of Land Act, 1936.

22.—(1) Section 5 of the Land Act, 1936, is hereby amended by the deletion in subsection (1) of “out of the resumption price of such holding” and the substitution therefor of “and the redemption shall be effected, where the resumption price is payable in cash, by the payment of so much of the cash as is sufficient to pay the redemption price of such funding annuity and, where the resumption price is payable in land bonds,”.

• (2) Subsection (1) of this section shall be deemed to have come into operation on the passing of the Land Act, 1936.

23 Amendment of section 24 of Land Act, 1939, and section 25 of Land Act, 1950.

23.—(1) In addition to their present application, subsections (2), (3) and (4) of section 24 of the Land Act, 1939, shall also apply in relation to land, being land in respect of which two or more persons are entitled to a right or rights (howsoever held or enjoyed) of grazing or turbary or grazing and turbary, for the purpose of the partition of the said right or rights and accordingly—

• (a) in those subsections any reference to owners in common shall include a reference to the said two or more persons and any reference to a holding to which the said section 24 applies shall include a reference to the said right or rights, and

• (b) unless the person who appears to the Land Commission to be the owner of the said land is a consenting party to a scheme in respect of the said right or rights, the Land Commission shall serve on him, if it is reasonably practicable to ascertain that person, a notice stating the particulars of such scheme and the manner in which and the time within which he may object thereto and paragraphs (b), (c), (d) and (e) of subsection (4) of the said section 24 shall apply in respect of his objection (if any), and

• (c) and order made under the said section 24 confirming a scheme in respect of the said right or rights shall operate to entitle each of the said two or more persons to such right or rights only in relation to the part or parts of the said land specified in respect of him in such scheme (subject to the terms and conditions stated in such scheme).

• (2) Section 25 of the Land Act, 1950, is hereby amended by the insertion in paragraph (b) of “such land or any part thereof is” before “purchased”.

• (3) Subsection (2) of this section shall be deemed to have come into operation on the passing of the Land Act, 1950.

• (4) A copy of an order made under section 24 of the Land Act, 1939, shall, where any registered land is affected by the order, be transmitted to the registering authority under the Registration of Title Acts, 1891 and 1942, and, on receipt thereof, the said registering authority shall cause the appropriate particulars to be registered under those Acts.

• (5) No fee shall be payable in respect of any proceedings in the Land Registry under subsection (4) of this section.

SCHEDULE. References to Rates.

Part I.

• (a) subsection (1) of section 9, subsection (3) of section 19, subsection (1) of section 25, section 39 and section 54 of the Land Act, 1923,

• (b) subsection (1) of section 2 of the Land Act, 1927.

• (a) section 33 of the Land Act, 1923,

• (b) paragraph (b) of subsection (6) of section 28 of the Land Act, 1923,

• (c) paragraph (b) of section 20 of the Land Act, 1931,

• (d) paragraph (c) of section 20 of the Land Act, 1931, as amended by subsection (3) of section 11 of the Land Act, 1936,

• (e) paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 21 of the Land Act, 1931, as amended by subsection (3) of section 11 of the Land Act, 1936,

• (f) subparagraphs (iii) and (iv) of paragraph (c) of subsection (5) of section 37 and subparagraphs (iii) and (iv) of paragraph (d) of subsection (3) of section 40 of the Land Act, 1936.

Part II.

Part III.

The references to the rate of one quarter of one per cent. in section 27, subsection (4) of section 42 and paragraph (b) of section 46 of the Land Act, 1927.