Rent Restrictions (Amendment) Act, 1967

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Amendment of section 8 of principal Act.

4.—(1) Section 8 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion of the following subsection before subsection (2):

“(1A) (a) If, on an application to the Court under this subsection by the landlord of a controlled dwelling, the Court is satisfied that the dwelling is a dwelling to which this subsection applies and that the basic rent of the dwelling is less than the rent (in this subsection referred to as the notional rent) which, if the dwelling were a dwelling to which section 9 of this Act applies, would be determined by the Court as the basic rent thereof, the basic rent shall be determined by the Court and shall be the amount which, in the opinion of the Court, represents the notional rent, and thenceforth the dwelling shall, without prejudice to the previous application thereto of paragraph (a) of section 16 of this Act, become a dwelling to which section 9 of this Act applies as if such determination had been made under that section.

(b) In determining pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection the notional rent of a dwelling, the following paragraph shall be regarded as being substituted for paragraph (b) of section 9 (1A) of this Act:

‘(b) (i) The said rent shall be a rent of such amount as the Court considers reasonable having regard to all the circumstances of the case, but, in particular, to the necessity of avoiding financial hardship to the tenant and the landlord, and subject to the overriding restriction that it shall not exceed the difference between the gross rent and the allowance for improvements as hereinafter respectively defined.

(ii) The gross rent shall be the rent which in the opinion of the Court a willing tenant not already in occupation would give and a willing landlord would take for the dwelling, in each case on the basis of vacant possession being given, and in such circumstances that the supply of similar dwellings is sufficient to meet thedemand and the competition therefor is normal and having regard to the other terms of the tenancy and to the letting values of dwellings of a similar character to and situate in the vicinity of the dwelling, but without regard to any goodwill which may exist in respect of the dwelling.

(iii) The allowance in respect of improvements shall be such proportion of the gross rent as is, in the opinion of the Court, attributable to improvements made by the tenant or his predecessors in title (whether before or after the commencement of this Act or of the Rent Restrictions (Amendment) Act, 1967) which, at the time of the application under this subsection, add to the letting value and are suitable to the character of the dwelling.

(iv) In the foregoing sub-paragraph—

“improvements” means any additions or alterations to the buildings comprised in the dwelling and includes any structures erected on the site of the dwelling or land together with which the dwelling is let which are ancillary or subsidiary to the said buildings and also includes the installation in the dwelling of conduits for the supply of water, gas or electricity, but does not include work consisting only of repairing, painting and decorating, or any of them,

“predecessors in title” means and includes all previous tenants of the dwelling under the same tenancy as the tenant or any tenancy of which such tenancy is or is deemed to be a continuation or renewal.’

(c) Where, in the case of a dwelling to which this subsection applies and in respect of which an application to the Court under this subsection hasnot been made, the landlord, having agreed with the tenant upon a rent to stand determined as the basic rent of the dwelling, serves a notice of that rent on the tenant, thenceforth—

(i) that rent shall stand determined as the basic rent of the dwelling and the dwelling shall, without prejudice to the previous application thereto of paragraph (a) of section 16 of this Act, become a dwelling to which section 9 of this Act applies as if such determination had been made under that section,

(ii) no application to the Court under paragraph (a) of this subsection may be made, and

(iii) in any application of paragraph (b) of section 16 of this Act to the dwelling, a reference to the date of the service of the notice shall be substituted for the date of the institution of proceedings.

(d) Where a notice is served under paragraph (c) of this subsection—

(i) either party to the agreement may, within three months after the date of the service of the notice, apply to the Court for an order altering the rent specified in the notice on the ground that he has, since that date, become aware of matters showing that the financial circumstances of the other party at the time of the agreement were substantially better than those by reference to which the agreement was reached,

(ii) if the Court allows the application, then, notwithstanding subparagraph (i) of paragraph (c) of this subsection, thenceforth the altered rent determined by the order of the Court shall stand determined as the basic rent of the dwelling and the dwelling shall be regarded as adwelling to which section 9 of this Act applies as if such determination had been made under that section.

(e) In this subsection “dwelling to which this subsection applies” means a controlled dwelling (being a house or a separate and self-contained flat)—

(i) to which section 7 of this Act applies, and

(ii) in the case of which the landlord at the time of the application under paragraph (a) of this subsection or of the service of the notice under paragraph (c) thereof was the landlord on the 8th day of June, 1966, and has been the landlord continuously from that day,

except that the expression shall be construed as not including a controlled dwelling such as aforesaid unless the landlord shows that either—

(I) he was not on the 8th day of June, 1966, the landlord of any other controlled dwelling (being a house or a separate and self-contained flat) to which section 7 of this Act applies, or

(II) the total number of the controlled dwellings (being houses or separate and self-contained flats, or houses or a house and such flats or such a flat) to which section 7 of this Act applies of which he was the landlord on the 8th day of June, 1966, is not more than six and the total of their rateable valuations does not exceed (in case one at least of them is in the county borough of Dublin or the borough of Dún Laoghaire) sixty pounds or (in any other case) forty pounds.

(f) The Court may, if it so thinks proper, deal privately with the whole or any part of an application under this subsection.

(g) Every application under this subsection shall, notwithstanding section 50 of this Act, be made to the District Court, and, in the case of an application under paragraph (a), the landlord shall be liable for the tenant's costs in that Court unless thatCourt, in all the circumstances and having regard, in particular, to the means of the landlord and the means of the tenant, considers it proper to order otherwise.

(h) Every notice served under this subsection shall be in the prescribed form, or a form substantially to the same effect, and shall contain the relevant particulars indicated by the form.

(i) If a notice served under this subsection contains any statement or representation which is false or misleading in any material respect, the person making or causing to be made such statement or representation shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on summary conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds unless he proves that the statement or representation was made innocently and without intent to deceive.”

(2) Section 8 (2) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (a):

“(aa) In determining pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection the notional rent of a dwelling, the Court shall have regard to any amount expended on the improvement, structural alteration or repair of the dwelling which is an amount by reference to which a lawful addition within the meaning of the Act of 1946 has been obtained or by reference to which a lawful addition within the meaning of this Act has been obtained before the passing of the Rent Restrictions (Amendment) Act, 1967.”

(3) No application shall be made under section 8 of the Principal Act after the expiration of two years from the passing of this Act.