Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1896

Part I.

Land Law.

Fair Rents.

Amendment as to improvements.

33 & 34 Vict. c. 46.

33 & 34 Vict. c. 46.

1.(1) Where the court fix a fair rent for a holding, the court shall ascertain and record in the form of a schedule, unless both landlord and tenant shall otherwise request—

(a) the annual sum which should be the fair rent of the holding on the assumption that all improvements thereof were made or acquired by the landlord;

(b) the condition as to cultivation, deterioration, or otherwise of the holding and the buildings thereon;

(c) the improvements made wholly or partly by the tenant or at his cost, and with respect to each such improvement—

(i) the nature, character, and present capital value thereof, and the increased letting value due thereto;

(ii) the date (so near as can be ascertained) at which the same was made; and

(iii) the deduction from the rent made on account thereof;

(d) the extent (if any) to which the landlord has paid or compensated the tenant in respect of each such improvement;

(e) the improvements made wholly or partly by or at the cost of, or acquired by, the landlord;

(f) such other matters in relation to the holding as may have been taken into account in fixing the fair rent thereof, or as may be prescribed; and

(g) the fair rent of the holding;

and the said schedule shall be in the form set out in the First Schedule to this Act, or in such other form as may be prescribed, and a certified copy of the record shall on the prescribed application be sent by post to each party, and the record shall be admissible in evidence on its mere production from the proper custody.

(2) Nothing contained in the First Schedule to this Act shall affect the construction of any other portion of this Act.

(3) No rent shall be allowed or made payable in respect of an improvement made by the tenant on a holding by reason only of the work constituting such improvement not being suitable to the holding.

(4) For the purpose of the Land Law Acts, as amended by this Act, a tenant shall be deemed to have been fully paid or compensated for every improvement made by him in pursuance of a contract entered into for valuable consideration.

(5) For the purpose of the Land Law Acts, as amended by this Act, a tenant shall not be deemed to have been paid or compensated for any improvement not made in pursuance of a contract entered into for valuable consideration, except to the extent to which the court, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, are of opinion that valuable consideration has been given by the landlord in respect of the improvement.

(6) A contract by a tenant not to claim, on quitting his holding, compensation for any improvement made by him shall not authorise the allowance of any rent in respect of any improvement except to the extent to which the court, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, are of opinion that valuable consideration has been given by the landlord in respect of the entering into that contract.

(7) Section four of the Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act, 1870, shall not authorise the allowance of any rent in respect of any improvement, provided that rent may be allowed in respect of an improvement made by the tenant, if made twenty years before the passing of the said Act, and not being a permanent building or reclamation of waste land.

(8) For the purpose of this section valuable consideration shall not be held to have been given by reason of the mere letting of the land on lease or otherwise, or the mere enjoyment by the tenant of any improvement where the rent of the holding was not fixed, reduced, abated, or, after the improvement was made, allowed to remain unaltered with the object of recouping the tenant for his expenditure of capital and labour in making the improvement, and in the case of an improvement made in pursuance of a contract entered into for valuable consideration, such object shall be implied where not expressed.

(9) In assessing the fair rent of any holding no deduction shall be made, except such deductions as shall be specified and accounted for in the said schedule, and are in accordance with the provisions of the Land Law Acts.

(10) Sub-sections (2) and (4) of section five of the Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act, 1870, and in the case of sales after the passing of the Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act, 1870, sub-section (1) of the same section shall not have effect in the case of applications to fix a fair rent.