Landlord and Tenant (Reversionary leases) Act , 1958

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1 Short title.

1.— (1) This Act may be cited as the Landlord and Tenant (Reversionary Leases) Act, 1958.

(2) The Act of 1931 and this Act shall be construed together as one Act and may be cited together as the Landlord and Tenant Acts, 1931 and 1958.

2 Definitions.

2.— In this Act—

“the Act of 1931” means the Landlord and Tenant Act, 1931 (No. 55 of 1931) ;

“building lessee” means the lessee under a building lease;

“immediate lessor” in relation to a lessee means the person for the time being entitled to the next superior interest in the land held by the lessee;

“improvement” in relation to buildings means any addition to or alteration of the buildings and includes any structure which is subsidiary or ancillary to the said buildings but does not include any alteration or reconstruction of the buildings so that they lose their original identity ;

“lease” means an instrument in writing, whether under or not under seal, containing a contract of tenancy in respect of any land in consideration of a rent or return and shall include a fee farm grant;

“lessee” shall, where the context so admits, be construed as including the executors, administrators and assigns of the lessee ;

“lessor” shall, where the context so admits, be construed as including the heirs, executors, administrators and assigns of the lessor;

“proprietary lessee” means the lessee under a proprietary lease ;

“urban area” means an area which is either a county or other borough, an urban district, a town or a village.

3 Repeals.

3.— Part V of the Act of 1931 and the Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act, 1943 (No. 10 of 1943), are hereby repealed.

PART II. Reversionary Leases.

4 Building leases.

4.— (1) In this Act “building lease” means a lease in respect of which the conditions specified in subsection (2) of this section are complied with and includes any lease which is deemed to be a building lease by section 5, section 6, section 10, section 19 or section 20 of this Act.

(2) The following are the conditions to be complied with:

(a) that the land demised by the lease is situate wholly in an urban area or, if not so situate, was demised by the lease for a term of not less than twenty years ;

(b) that there are permanent buildings on the land and that the portion of the land not covered by such buildings is subsidiary and ancillary thereto ;

(c) that the permanent buildings are not an improvement within the meaning of this Act ;

(d) that the permanent buildings were erected—

(i) by the person who, at the time of their erection, was entitled to the lessee's interest under the lease, or

(ii) in pursuance of an agreement for the grant of such lease upon the erection of such permanent buildings ;

(e) that the permanent buildings were not erected in contravention of a covenant, condition or agreement contained in the lease.

(3) (a) Where a lease is for a term of not less than fifty years, it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that the buildings on the land demised by the lease were erected by the person who, at the time of their erection, was entitled to the lessee's interest under the lease if—

(i) in the case of a lease granted before the 1st day of January, 1914, the rent reserved by the lease is less than three-fourths of the rateable valuation of the land thereby demised together with the buildings thereon as first fixed or revised subsequent to the date of the lease pursuant to the Valuation (Ireland) Act, 1852, as amended and adapted, or

(ii) in the case of a lease granted on or after the 1st day of January, 1914, the rent reserved by the lease is less than that rateable valuation.

(b) The inclusion in the certificate signed by or on behalf of the Commissioner of Valuation on an extract from the Valuation List issued pursuant to section 9 of the Rateable Property (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1860, of a statement that a valuation shown in the extract is the first rateable valuation for the purposes of paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be prima facie evidence of that fact.

(c) For the purposes of paragraph (a) of this subsection, the rent reserved by the lease shall comprise the rent reserved as such in the lease (other than a penal rent payable for any breach of covenant) together with the one-twentieth part of any fine payable by the lessee under the terms of the lease.

(d) Where the land demised by a lease did not in a particular year bear a separate rateable valuation the Commissioner of Valuation shall have power for the purposes of this subsection to apportion the rateable valuation or valuations of the properties in which such land was comprised in that year and to charge a fee for such apportionment. Every such fee shall be determined, accounted for and applied in the same manner as the fees charged by the Commissioner pursuant to section 9 of the Rateable Property (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1860.

(4) Where a lease is alleged in any Court to be a building lease by reason of the permanent buildings thereon having been erected in pursuance of an agreement for the grant of such lease upon the erection of those buildings but express evidence of such agreement is not available, the following provisions shall have effect:

(a) if it is shown to the satisfaction of the Court that the said buildings were erected by the person to whom the said lease was subsequently made, it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that such agreement was in fact made and that the said buildings were erected in pursuance thereof;

(b) in any case in which paragraph (a) of this subsection does not apply, the Court may, if it so thinks proper on hearing such evidence as is available and is adduced, presume that such agreement was in fact made and that the said buildings were erected in pursuance thereof.

(5) Permanent buildings erected by a lessee in pursuance of a covenant in his lease to reinstate the buildings comprised in the lease in the event of their destruction by fire or otherwise shall be deemed to have been erected by the person who erected the original buildings.

(6) The Court may declare a person to be entitled to a reversionary lease notwithstanding non-compliance with paragraph (e) of subsection (2) of this section where it is of opinion that it would be unreasonable to order otherwise.

5 Leases deemed to be building leases.

5.— The following leases shall, if they comply with the conditions specified in subsection (2) (other than paragraph (d)) of section 4 of this Act, be deemed to be building leases:

(a) a lease granted by a lessor to the nominee of a person (in this paragraph referred to as the builder) to whom land was demised for the purpose of erecting buildings thereon in pursuance of an agreement between the lessor and the builder that the builder, having contracted to sell the buildings, would surrender his lease in consideration of the lessor granting new leases to the builder's nominees; and

(b) a lease granted by a lessor to the nominee of a person (in this paragraph referred to as the builder) in pursuance of an agreement between the lessor and the builder that the lessor, upon the erection of the buildings by the builder, would grant leases to the builder's nominees.

6 Partly-built leases.

6.— Where a lease (in this Act referred to as a partly-built lease) which expires or is terminated for any reason would, at such expiration or termination, be a building lease but for either or both of the following facts, that is to say, that though there are (in either case), at such expiration or termination, permanent buildings on the land demised by such lease—

(a) the portion of that land which is not covered by such buildings is not wholly subsidiary and ancillary to such buildings, or

(b) some (but not all) of such buildings were neither erected by the person entitled at their erection to the lessee's interest under the partly-built lease nor erected in pursuance of an agreement for the grant of that lease on their erection,

the following provisions shall have effect:

(i) the partly-built lease shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be two separate leases whereof one lease (in this Act referred to as the built-on lease) comprises that portion of the land demised by the partly-built lease which is covered by permanent buildings either erected by the person entitled at their erection to the lessee's interest under the partly-built lease or erected in pursuance of an agreement for the grant of that lease on their erection, together with so much of the said land as is subsidiary and ancillary to those buildings and the other lease (in this Act referred to as the vacant lease) comprises the residue of the said land, whether there are or are not permanent buildings on that residue;

(ii) for the purposes of such division of the partly-built lease, such portion of the rent reserved by that lease as is fairly attributable to the land comprised in the built-on lease shall be deemed to be apportioned to the built-on lease and the remainder of the said rent shall be deemed to be apportioned to the vacant lease, and the covenants on the lessee's part and the conditions contained in the partly-built lease shall be deemed to be apportioned likewise so as to relate separately to the land comprised in the built-on lease and to the land comprised in the vacant lease;

(iii) the built-on lease shall be deemed to be a building lease.

7 Proprietary leases.

7.— (1) In this Act “proprietary lease” means a lease in respect of which the conditions specified in subsection (2) of this section are complied with and includes a lease which is deemed to be a proprietary lease by subsection (4) of this section.

(2) The following are the conditions to be complied with:

(a) that the lease is a sublease (whether mediate or immediate) under a building lease; and

(b) that the land demised by the lease is the whole or part of the land comprised in such building lease; and

(c) that the lease—

(i) is made for a term of not less than ninety-nine years, or

(ii) if made for a term of less than ninety-nine years, is made for a term which equals or exceeds whichever of the following periods is the lesser, that is to say, twenty years or two-thirds of the term of such building lease, and in any case expires at the same time as, or not more than fifteen years before, the expiration of such building lease; and

(d) that the lease was made—

(i) partly in consideration of the payment of a sum of money (other than rent) by the lessee to the lessor at or immediately before the grant of the lease, and, for this purpose, any money paid in redemption of any part of the annual rent reserved by the lease (whether such money is paid in pursuance of a covenant contained in the lease or pursuant to an agreement made between the lessee and the lessor during the currency of the lease) shall be deemed to be part of such consideration, or

(ii) partly in consideration of the expenditure (otherwise than on decoration) of a sum of money by the lessee on the premises demised by the lease, or

(iii) partly in consideration of both such payment and such expenditure; and

(e) that the said sum of money so paid or expended or the total of the said sums of money so respectively paid and expended (as the case may be) was not less than fifteen times the yearly amount of the rent or the greatest rent reserved by the lease.

(3) In determining the greatest rent reserved by a lease the following provisions shall have effect:

(a) where during the currency of a lease part of the annual rent reserved thereby is redeemed by a capital payment, the reduced rent shall be deemed to be the greatest rent reserved by the lease;

(b) a penal rent payable for any breach of covenant and any exceptional rent reserved for a specified period not exceeding five years shall be disregarded.

(4) A sublease of the whole or part of the land comprised in a built-on lease, which would be a proprietary lease if the partly-built lease were a building lease, shall be deemed to be a proprietary lease.

8 Provisions as to mortgages by subdemise.

8.— (1) Where—

(a) a lessee executes a mortgage by subdemise of the whole or part of the land comprised in his lease, retaining a nominal reversion therein, and

(b) the land comprised in the subdemise is sold for the enforcement of the mortgage,

the purchaser shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to have acquired the interest of the lessee in the demised land for the entire of the unexpired term of the lease, including the period of the nominal reversion.

(2) This section shall apply to mortgages and sales whether effected before or after the passing of this Act.

9 Saver for certain transactions.

9.— Where between the 22nd day of December, 1931, and the passing of this Act, a building lessee or a proprietary lessee granted a sublease for a term of less than ninety-nine years, and the sublease expires more than five years before the building lease, nothing in this Act shall operate to convert such a sublease into a proprietary lease.

10 Renewed building leases.

10.— Where—

(a) a lease expired or was surrendered before the 31st day of March, 1931, and

(b) such lease would have been a building lease or a proprietary lease if this Act had been then in force, and

(c) a renewal of such lease or a new lease was granted to the person entitled to the lessee's interest thereunder,

such renewed or new lease (in this Act referred to as a renewed building lease) shall be deemed to be a building lease.

11 Right of building lessee to a reversionary lease.

11.— (1) A building lessee, subject to section 15 of this Act and on obtaining the consent of every proprietary lessee who holds the land or any part of the land demised by the building lease, shall be entitled on application to obtain from his immediate lessor a reversionary lease of the land held by him under such building lease—

(a) not earlier than fifteen years before the expiration of his building lease, and

(b) not later than the expiration of the building lease or the expiration of three months from the service on him by his immediate lessor or any superior lessor of notice of the expiration of the building lease, whichever is the later.

(2) The notice referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section shall be a valid notice only if served not earlier than fifteen years before the expiration of the building lease.

(3) Where the building lessee excludes from his application for a reversionary lease any part of the land which has been subleased to a proprietary lessee, it shall not be necessary for him to obtain the consent of that proprietary lessee.

12 Right of proprietary lessee to a reversionary lease.

12.— (1) A proprietary lessee, subject to section 15 of this Act and on obtaining the consent of every sublessee under him who holds the land or any part of the land demised by the proprietary lease under a sublease which is itself a proprietary lease, shall be entitled on application to obtain from his immediate lessor a reversionary lease of all the land demised by his proprietary lease—

(a) not earlier than fifteen years before the expiration of his proprietary lease, and

(b) not later than the expiration of his proprietary lease or the expiration of three months from the service on him by his immediate lessor or any superior lessor of notice of the expiration of his proprietary lease, whichever is the later.

(2) The notice referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section shall be a valid notice only if served not earlier than fifteen years before the expiration of the proprietary lease.

(3) Where the proprietary lessee excludes from his application for a reversionary lease any part of the demised premises which is held on a sublease which is itself a proprietary lease, it shall not be necessary for him to secure the consent of that sublessee.

13 General provisions in relation to reversionary leases.

13.— (1) Where the reversion immediately expectant on the termination of a building lease or a proprietary lease is less than the term for which a reversionary lease is to be granted, the immediate lessor and such (if any) superior lessors as may be necessary shall, on receiving notice of the application for a reversionary lease, join in the grant of the reversionary lease.

(2) For the purpose of securing the joinder of all necessary parties in the grant of a reversionary lease, the applicant may serve a notice in writing upon his immediate lessor requiring information as to the nature and duration of his reversion and the name and address of the person for the time being entitled to the next superior interest and shall also be entitled to serve a similar notice on each other person holding a superior interest.

(3) It shall be the duty of every person upon whom a notice is served under subsection (2) of this section to give, within one month of such service, so much of the required information as is within his possession or procurement and if any such person neglects or refuses so to do, the applicant may apply to the Court and on the hearing of such application the Court may make such order as justice shall require with a view to compelling such person to give such information.

(4) Where a lessee fails to apply for a reversionary lease within the time specified in section 11 or section 12 of this Act, the Court may, on such terms as the Court thinks proper, extend such time where it is satisfied that the failure was occasioned by disability, mistake, absence from the State, inability to obtain requisite information or any other reasonable cause.

(5) Where an application is made for a reversionary lease before the expiration of the lease under which the applicant holds (in this section referred to as the old lease) the reversionary lease shall commence on the expiration of the old lease or on such other date as may be agreed upon between the parties.

(6) Where an application is made for a reversionary lease after the expiration of the old lease the reversionary lease shall commence on such date as may be agreed upon between the parties or, in default of agreement, on the date of the application for a reversionary lease.

14 Rights of lessees under certain expired leases.

14.— Where

(a) a lease expired within five years before the passing of this Act, and

(b) the lessee is, at the passing of this Act, in possession of the land comprised in the expired lease under a yearly tenancy arising by implication from the acts of the parties or as a tenant at will or without obtaining a new tenancy, and

(c) no person is, immediately before the passing of this Act, entitled to a reversionary lease in respect of the land under the Act of 1931,