Rent Restrictions Act , 1960

(f) the compilation of registers of rents of controlled dwellings, or any classes of such dwellings, in such form and containing such particulars as may be prescribed in the regulations, the inspection thereof by members of the public and such other matters relating thereto as the Minister may think proper to provide for;

(g) the provision by landlords of identifying numbers for parts (being controlled dwellings) of any houses or classes of houses.

(2) Every person who fails to comply with any regulation made under subsection (1) (other than paragraph (e)) of this section and for the time being in force shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on summary conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

(3) (a) On an application by a landlord of a controlled dwelling, the Court may by order exempt the landlord from compliance with regulations relating to rent books made under subsection (1) of this section.

(b) An order shall not be made under this subsection unless the Court is satisfied—

(i) that the applicant has made satisfactory alternative arrangements for keeping records of payments of rent made by his tenants and for furnishing a proper receipt for each such payment, and

(ii) that, having regard to those arrangements and to all the circumstances of the case, it would be unreasonable to require the applicant to comply with the regulations.

(c) The Court may attach to an order made under this subsection such conditions as the Court thinks fit to impose, including, in particular, a condition that the applicant shall furnish each tenant of a controlled dwelling, of which he may from time to time be landlord, with such particulars, relating to the rent payable by the tenant and the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants under this Act, as are required by the regulations to be specified in rent books.

(d) A person who fails to comply with any condition attached to an order made under this subsection in relation to him shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on summary conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

(4) Every regulation made by the Minister under subsection (1) of this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution is passed by either House of the Oireachtas within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it annulling the regulation, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under the regulation.

49 Powers of the Court generally.

49.—(1) Where, for the purpose of determining the rateable valuation of a dwelling which is alleged to be a controlled dwelling, it is necessary to apportion the rateable valuation of the property in which the dwelling is comprised (such apportionment not having already been made under section 41 of this Act), the Court may, on the application of either party, make such apportionment as it thinks proper.

(2) Where a dwelling is let or was let at the date in relation to which the basic rent is to be fixed, at a rent which includes or included payment for board, attendance or the use of furniture, or for the supply to the dwelling of heat, hot water, fuel, electricity or any other commodity or for the rendering of any service in connection with the dwelling, the Court may for any of the purposes of this Act make such apportionment as it thinks proper.

(3) On the hearing of an action for the recovery of possession of a controlled dwelling or for the recovery of any rent claimed to be due by a landlord or any sum claimed to be recoverable by a tenant in respect of a controlled dwelling, the Court may on the application of either party at such hearing determine any matter arising under this Act which can in the opinion of the Court be conveniently determined on such hearing.

(4) The Court shall, if satisfied that any error or omission in a notice served under section 13 of this Act is due to a bona fide mistake on the part of the party serving it, have power to amend the notice by correcting any errors and supplying any omissions therein, whether or not such errors or omissions, if not corrected or supplied, would render the notice invalid, on such terms and conditions as appear to the Court to be proper and, if the Court so directs, the notice as so amended shall have effect and be deemed to have had effect as a valid notice under the said section 13.

(5) In addition to the powers specifically conferred on the Court by this Act, the Court may deal with any matter arising under this Act whether a dispute has or has not arisen in relation to that matter.

50 Exercise of jurisdiction of Court.

50.—The jurisdiction and powers conferred on the Court by this Act may be exercised—

(a) by the Circuit Court, or

(b) where—

(i) the rateable valuation of the relevant dwelling does not exceed £10, or

(ii) an order for recovery of possession of the relevant dwelling is sought, the rent of the dwelling being a rent which does not exceed such sum as amounts or might amount to £53 per annum, or

(iii) the parties consent in writing to such exercise,

by the District Court.

51 Continuance of pending proceedings.

51.—(1) Where, immediately before the operative date, proceedings stood pending for the determination of the basic rent (within the meaning of the Act of 1946) of any dwelling, the proceedings shall continue and shall be treated as if they were proceedings under subsection (1) or subsection (2) (as may be appropriate) of section 8 of this Act.

(2) (a) Where, immediately before the operative date, an application which was made under section 28 of the Act of 1946 stood not dealt with under section 29 of that Act, the application shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as an application which was made under section 20 of this Act and, if the application was referred pursuant to subsection (2) of section 28 of the Act of 1946 to the appropriate District Justice, it shall be taken for the purposes of this Act as having been referred pursuant to subsection (2) of section 20 of this Act to that Justice.

(b) Where a provisional order which was made on a particular date under section 29 of the Act of 1946 stood in force immediately before the operative date, the order shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as a provisional order which was made on that date under subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 21 of this Act, subject to the modifications that, with respect to the order, the references to one month in subsection (1) of section 23 and paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 24 of this Act shall be construed as references to three months and that in the order—

(i) for the amount specified therein as the basic rent of the dwelling in question there shall be substituted an amount equal to the lawful rent so specified less any amount so specified in respect of rates, and

(ii) for the amount so specified in respect of lawful additions there shall be substituted an amount equal to any amount so specified in respect of rates,

and, if a copy of the order was served pursuant to subsection (1) of section 30 of the Act of 1946 on a particular date before the operative date, a copy thereof shall be taken for the purposes of this Act as having been served pursuant to subsection (1) of section 22 of this Act on that date.

(3) Where, immediately before the operative date, any proceedings, other than proceedings referred to in the foregoing subsections of this section, stood pending under the Act of 1946, the proceedings shall continue and shall be treated as if they were proceedings under the corresponding provisions of this Act.

52 Position of statutory tenants under Act of 1946

52.—To avoid doubts, it is hereby declared that any person who, immediately before the operative date, was a statutory tenant (within the meaning of the Act of 1946) of a dwelling shall, subject to this Act, be entitled to retain possession of the dwelling.

53 Rules as to procedure.

53.—(1) Until rules are made regulating the practice and procedure of the Circuit Court for the purposes of this Act, the rules regulating the practice and procedure of the Circuit Court for the purposes of the Act of 1946 shall apply for the purposes of this Act with the necessary modifications.

(2) Until rules are made regulating the practice and procedure of the District Court for the purposes of this Act, the rules made under section 19 of the Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest (Restrictions) Act, 1923, so far as they relate to the District Court, and the District Court Rules (No. 1), 1947, shall apply for the purposes of this Act with the necessary modifications.

54 Application of Landlord and Tenant Act, 1931, to certain premises.

54.—(1) This section applies to premises which, immediately before the operative date, were—

(a) controlled premises within the meaning of the Act of 1946 and business premises within that meaning, and

(b) premises the letting of which was not—

(i) a letting made and expressed to be made for the temporary convenience of the landlord or of the tenant and (if made after the 22nd day of December, 1931) stating the nature of such temporary convenience, or

(ii) a letting made for or dependent on the continuance of the tenant in any office, employment or appointment.

(2) The Landlord and Tenant Act, 1931, shall apply to all premises to which this section applies and for that purpose—

(i) “tenement” in that Act shall include all such premises,

(ii) “business” in that Act shall include all trades, professions and businesses, whether or not carried on for gain or reward, and also the public service,

(iii) subsection (1) of section 19 of that Act shall have effect as if the following word and paragraph were added thereto:

“or

(e) such tenement is premises referred to in subsection (1) of section 54 of the Rent Restrictions Act, 1960.”,

(iv) in any application of paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 24 of that Act to any such premises, the reference in that paragraph to one month shall be construed as a reference to six months,

(v) where any such premises were, immediately before the operative date, held under a statutory tenancy within the meaning of the Act of 1946, the tenant under that tenancy shall, on and after that date, be deemed to hold the premises from the landlord under a tenancy having the same terms and conditions as the statutory tenancy except that the landlord may, by not less than three months' notice expiring on any gale day served on the tenant, determine the tenancy,

(vi) any notice under the foregoing paragraph shall, for the purposes of paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 24 of that Act be deemed to be a notice to quit.

FIRST SCHEDULE. Enactments Repealed.

SECOND SCHEDULE. Scale for Calculation of certain Sums.