Irish Land Act, 1903

Advances to owners of estates.

54 & 55 Vict. c. 66.

3.(1) Where the owner of an estate has entered into agreements, under the Land Purchase Acts, for the sale to persons other than the Land Commission of the estate, the Land Commission may purchase from him any demesne or other land in his occupation and adjacent to, or in the neighbourhood of, the estate at a price which in their opinion represents the selling value of that land, and in such case may resell the whole or any portion of that land to him; provided that the Land Commission may, if they think it necessary for furthering the purposes of this Act, dispense with the condition in this subsection that the land purchased and resold shall be adjacent to, or in the neighbourhood of, the estate.

(2) Where any land is so resold, or where a parcel of an estate purchased by the Land Commission is resold to the vendor, or (in the case of an estate purchased from the land judge) to the former owner of the estate or a person nominated by the Land Commission as his representative, an advance under the Land Purchase Acts may be made, not exceeding in any case one-third of the aggregate amount of the purchase money of the holdings and other parcels of land comprised in the estate, or twenty thousand pounds, whichever is the less.

(3) In entering into agreements for the resale of any land to the vendor of an estate, the Land Commission shall have regard to the amount of land available for the enlargement of holdings, where they consider such enlargement necessary.

(4) Where any land is resold, in pursuance of this section, a Judicial Commissioner may, if he thinks it equitable, on the application within the prescribed time of any person who, at the date of the sale of the land to the Land Commission, was entitled to any estate in remainder or reversion in that land, order, upon such terms and conditions as he may think reasonable, that the land so resold shall devolve in accordance with the terms of the settlement which, at the date of the sale to the Land Commission, affected it.

(5) If the owner of any demesne or other land subject to settlement and sold to the Land Commission does not repurchase the same within the prescribed time, the Land Commission may make an advance under this section to the trustees of the settlement, and in such case the land resold shall be held subject to the trusts of the settlement.

(6) Any land resold in pursuance of this section shall not be subject to the provisions of the Local Registration of Title (Ireland) Act, 1891, relating to the devolution of freehold registered land.